High Above The Clouds, My Love For You Is Eternal
by Rogue Darth Skywalker
Summary: Modern Aviation AU. Anakin is a pilot, Padme is a flight attendant. When they meet for the first time he is captivated by her. But much to his surprise she has a young son. This is a story about how bonds are broken, how families are made, and how sacrifice is sometimes necessary to get people where they are meant to be. (subject to change as WIP)
1. Chapter 1

**I've had this idea for MONTHS now and I've finally started writing it! Modern AU's are a bit of a challenge for me but I'm trying REALLY hard to make it as realistic as possible. Anyways, I hope you all like it!**

 **Happy Reading!**

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Chapter 1

Early flights were nothing new to Anakin. From the moment he got his first job with an airline, he had been forced to adjust to some of the less luxurious aspects of being a pilot. Where movies often make flying look like a glamorous and profitable career, the reality was that he rarely ever had time to enjoy any of it. Sure, he'd been to Japan, Venezuela, Brazil, Russia… but he never once set foot outside of the airport. There were some places he had gotten a little extra time to explore, but seldom was that ever longer than a day. And knowing this, most people would choose a career that offered a little more flexibility. But not Anakin. He loved his job! He loved being able to fly everyday. He loved how little kids would wave at him in the airports. He loved watching as he steered the plane up through the clouds. He even liked storms (from a distance). And his love for flying made all the challenges and all the terrible airplane food worth it.

Anakin wheeled his luggage towards his gate, standing in line with all of the other passengers as they prepared to board. Today was one of those rare days when he was just a passenger. The moment his last flight had landed just a few hours ago, his long shift finally ended and he was now on the last leg of his journey to Arizona. The copper state was not his favorite place to visit. He'd grown up there and while the heat was tolerable, the sand and wildlife were not. And while he left the state the first chance he got, his mother didn't. That one detail made the state worth the few days of vacation he was spending on it. He hasn't seen his mother in years, the last time being at her wedding close to five years ago. He didn't know the man very well but his mother was happy and so long as she was out of that death trap of a home he grew up in, he was just fine with him.

The line moved slowly as one by one passengers scanned their tickets before walking down the gangway towards the plane. Traveling in coach was always an experience especially when he tried to squeeze his long legs to fit within the confines of a middle seat. But fortunately this time he booked an aisle seat. Anakin made his way towards his seat in the eighth row. Through the crowd of people he could see the middle seat of his row. A young boy sat in the seat, his eyes scanning his surroundings nervously, unsure of where to focus. Anakin smiled. _Must not fly that much,_ he noted. As he drew closer, he tried to play it cool and casual, ignoring how the boy's eyes widened at seeing the wings pinned to the breast of his jacket and the four gold stripes on his cuffs as he pushed down the handle his roller and stored it in the overhead compartment with his cap before sitting down. He could feel the young boy's eyes on him and knew it was only a matter of time before he asked the question every young kid asks him.

"Are you really a pilot?"

Anakin smirked, _like clockwork,_ he thought, turning to face to boy and giving him a friendly smile before answering. "I sure am," He said, loving how the boy's smile broadened.

"That's so cool!" He said, "My dad got me a model plane for my birthday last year."

"Really?" Anakin asked, "Do you like flying?"

The boy shrugged, "I haven't really flown much," He admitted, "The last time I flew I was a toddler and that was when we moved where we live now."

The window seat of the row was occupied by an older gentleman already fast asleep. It didn't look like the man was traveling with the boy.

Anakin's brow rose in mild surprise. Unaccompanied minors was not uncommon, but he personally couldn't imagine putting a kid who hasn't flown on a plane alone. Perhaps his parents were in a different row. That happened often and if the parents wanted to sit by their son, he had no problem switching seats. Anakin glanced around the cabin trying to see if anyone was watching the boy but he couldn't see anyone.

"Are you okay here?"

Anakin jumped at the woman's voice right by his ear. "Yeah, I—" His head shot around and he immediately forgot what he was going to say. Standing in the aisle was the most beautiful flight attendant he'd ever seen. Her hand rested on the back of his seat and she leaned forward just enough for him to get a small peek at the subtle curve of the top of her breasts.

"Yes, mom."

Anakin nearly choked when the boy answered the flight attendant. _Mom!?_ He couldn't believe this woman was this kid's mother! It was impossible! She looked way too young. And yet, it seemed to be exactly the case.

The flight attendant smiled lovingly at her son, before turning her attention to him. "He isn't bothering you, is he?" She asked, "I'm sorry, Luke can sometimes overwhelm people with too many questions or—"

"—No, no," Anakin said, holding his hand up and smiling politely at her, "It's fine, really."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course! It's no problem, really."

The flight attendant relaxed a little, but she still looked a bit tense. "Alright," She conceded, "But if you need _anything_ please, just ask for Padme." She sent her son one last warning glance before she started to make her way towards the front of the plane. As she walked, he couldn't help but slightly crane his head to watch her. The gentle sway of her hips, the way the tight skirt of her uniform hugged her form… he shook his head. He shouldn't be gawking at her like that. She's a _mother_ It was disrespectful. And her son was sitting right next to him. It just figured a woman like that would already be taken. He'd barely exchanged one word with her and she already had him stuttering like a fool. Were she single, he'd be asking for her number after they landed and hoping they'd somehow meet up when there was a layover or something. shame.

It didn't take much longer for the rest of the plane to board. And after a twenty-minute wait on the runway, they finally got up into the air. Luke's hands clutched tightly at the armrests as the plane climbed higher and higher. Every few minutes he looked back at him and he gave the young boy a reassuring smile to try and make the assent easier on him. It seemed to work, and as soon as they reached their cruising altitude, Luke picked up a conversation with him as if nothing had happened. "I haven't been doing models for too long. I'm not really that good with painting them but I'm getting better," He said after telling him about the book on model building he has at home.

"Yeah?"

Luke nodded, "I'm almost done with the one my dad got me last year. It wasn't the one I wanted. It was one of those F-111's or something, but I'm trying to paint one of those shark-faces on the nose art but it doesn't look as good on the newer planes. That's why I like the older ones more.

Anakin could relate. While the newer planes were pretty cool, the older ones had a bit more class in his opinion. "Well, maybe you'll get it next year," He said, unsure of what he really should say.

"Doubt it. He's never gotten it right," He scoffed. "But I don't really expect much. I normally only see him twice a year— three if he's in town."

Luke tried to play it off like he didn't really care about his father. But Anakin knew better. Every boy wants a father. Someone to teach them how to play sports, how to stand up for themselves, to teach show them what a man should be. Anakin never had that. And he could only imagine what it was like to know who your father is, but rarely ever see him. "Sounds like your dad travels a lot. Does he also work in aviation?"

Luke shook his head, "He works at some fancy art collection, I think. Mom says he think's he's the next van Gogh but he's more of a 'van No'." He couldn't help but laugh. Far from the best pun in the world, it was so bad it was funny. They continued to talk for a little bit longer but Luke was getting tired and his legs were getting stiff. And so when the boy finally dozed off, Anakin took the opportunity to get up and stretch. A few rows ahead of him, Padme had just finished bringing a passenger another drink. For the briefest of moments, their eyes met before she quickly turned and walked back to the front where another flight attendant was preparing a coffee.

He made his way up the aisle towards her, his hands tucked casually in the pockets of his slacks. When he was within talking distance, he cleared his throat and didn't miss how the other flight attendant smiled at Padme before ducking out of the way to attend to a call. "Hi," He said.

"Hi," Padme smiled politely at him as she started to put away the unused plastic cups into their cabinets. "How's Luke? You two were talking for awhile, I hope he wasn't a bother."

He shook his head, "He's no bother, really. I didn't mind talking to him."

Padme visibly sighed in relief, "I'm glad," She said, "He hasn't met too many pilots."

"Odd, given your profession and everything."

She gave a half shrug, "I try to keep work and home separate," She said. "Luke has his head in the clouds already, I don't need it climbing any higher."

Anakin nodded, not really understanding her, but knowing better than to question her when it really isn't his place. "Well, I just wanted to let you know that he's sleeping. Take off was a bit scary for him, as you can imagine, but he did great."

She stopped what she was doing and turned back around to face him. She seemed surprised for some reason, almost as if she expected him to complain about the boy. But why would he? Luke seemed like a great kid! Maybe a bit hyper and a talker, but what kid isn't? "You didn't have to do that, but thank you."

He gave a nod leaned back against the wall. "I take it you're taking him on a vacation or something, right?"

Padme closed the cabinet and mirrored him, leaning back against the wall of cabinets. "Yes. It's the first time I've been able to take him somewhere in a while."

"Staying in Arizona then? Or connecting?"

"Staying," She said, lifting a heeled foot and rotating the ankle. "There's an airshow showcasing an old World War II plane he wanted to see. It's like the first time one of them is flying again in over fifty years."

"The de Havillad Mosquito?"

Her brow furrowed, "Yeah, how did you—"

"I grew up near the base the Wheels Up Airshow is every year. I… still get the monthly newsletter," He admitted.

"I take it your son likes flying too then," She said.

Anakin felt the heat rise to his face as his shoulders slouched, "Uh… I-I don't actually have any kids." Her eyes widened and she looked at him from head to toe. It almost felt like she was checking him out, but that wasn't likely. More likely she was trying to figure out why a grown man still got the newsletter for an airshow that focused on bringing the excitement of the world of aviation to kids all over the country. It's not like he actually _reads_ the newsletter anymore! He'd been getting them since he was a kid and he had been meaning to unsubscribe, but he would always just… forget. And him knowing exactly what plane being showcased at this show was pure coincidence. He just happened to read the subject line of the email and _accidentally_ opened it and read that the de Havillad Mosquito was flying for the first time in _fifty-two_ years and that globally, there were maybe only a handful of the planes left in semi-functional form. Yes, just a pure coincidence.

"Oh, so any nieces or nephews maybe?"

He shook his head, "Only child. Well, used to be, I suppose. Step-brother, a few years younger, but… no kids."

Padme raised an elegant eyebrow, "So then… why?" She didn't wait for him to answer before laughing and shaking her head, "You're one of those flyboys who practically lives on jet fuel, aren't you?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "You make that sound like a bad thing," He laughed.

"No, not a bad thing, it's just that Luke is the same way." A small smile graced her lips as she thought about her son. "I can't keep up with half the things he says. He talks like he was at the factory putting the plane together himself," She chuckles and turns back to face him, "It's not bad, it just… it's not easy for a lot of people to connect with it."

Anakin nodded, understanding her words completely. He knew what it was like to stand out. It isn't easy and it only gets worse as years go on. But, if he has learned anything, it's that things tend to even out across the board. Luke is still young and there are plenty of things that will capture his interest in the years to come. He supposed it was only natural for Padme to worry though, all mothers worry, more so when it looks like she is on her own more often than not.

Her jaw dropped open as though she wanted to say something else, but words failed her as the plane jolted, hard. on instinct, Anakin braced himself against the wall and she did the same. The seatbelt sign blinked on as they hit another bump. He didn't need her to tell him he had to return to his seat. As he walked down the aisle, several of the passengers who had been asleep were now awake as they rode through a rough patch of turbulence. When he reached his row, Luke's eyes were wide and his fingers gripped the arm rests so tight his knuckles were white. Anakin smiled at him and took his seat, acting like this was no big deal, and most times it wasn't but he knew that it would be foolish to take any change in pressure lightly. He felt his ears pop as they lowered to a lower altitude and as the shaking subsided, so too did Luke's grip on the armrests.

The seatbelt sign went off after a few minutes and Luke slowly drifted back to sleep. With roughly an hour left in the flight, Anakin decided a short nap would do him good especially since he had to drive out to his step-father's ranch once they land. Closing his eyes, he leaned back in his seat and quickly fell asleep not far behind Luke.

* * *

The plane touched down late in the afternoon slightly ahead of schedule and getting off the plane was just as slow as getting on — if not slower as passengers readjusted to normal pressure. Luke remained in his seat as the rest of the passengers got off. He didn't look too happy about waiting, which was understandable. "Well Luke," Anakin said, holding his hand out to the boy, "It was great flying with you, can I expect you on one of my flights in the future?" He asked, leaning closer to whisper so only he could hear, "I might even be able to get you into the cockpit."

Luke's eyes widened, "R-really?" He nodded his head vigorously, "Yeah!"

Anakin laughed as the two of them shook hands before parting. He wished he would see Padme as they disembarked but she had taken the jump seat in the back. He wanted to see her again though. He knew it was wrong to want a married woman, but there was something about her that even if he couldn't have her, he still wanted to be near her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello Readers! Right now I feel like this brain baby is pretty close to the best thing I've started in a while... hopefully I can keep that up! (I'm trying really hard!)**

 **I swear this story looks like it could easily be 30+ chapters long! Let me know what you all think!**

 **Happy Reading!**

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Chapter 2

The suffocatingly tight hug his mother gave him the moment the front door opened was exactly what he had expected for arriving unannounced. Anakin returned her hug gladly. It had been far too long since he had seen her and the simple hug reminded him that he really did have to visit more despite how much he hates Arizona. Shmi Skywalker pulled back from the hug, her hands cupping his face with gentle affection as she looked at him like it was her first time seeing him.

"I swear you're still getting taller, Ani," She laughed, her eyes squinting as she looked up at him. Her fingers pulled at the ends of his hair at the nape of his neck. "You're growing out your hair again… Is there some special girl in your life I don't know about."

"Mom," He groaned.

"I'm just teasing, Ani," She said. "You know I've been waiting for grandkids ever since that last girlfriend of yours."

He shook his head as he followed her into the house. Shrugging off his jacket, he hung it and his cap on the coat rack next to the door while his mother wheeled his suitcase to the steps. The house was a significant improvement on the home he grew up in. Her husband Cliegg Lars owned a decently sized ranch. It had been in his family for generations and it was clear how much the home meant to them. The base of the doorframe of the front door had the faded initials of former owners carved into the left side of the frame, the latest being C.L. carved at about the height of his knee. The main hallway was decorated with family portraits some of them so old they were printed on tin.

Anakin followed his mother down the hallway towards the large kitchen. At the island counters, his step-brother sat with his wife. They were scrolling through what looked like a baby registry. Shmi smiled as she patted his step-brother on the shoulder. "Owen, look who stopped by for a visit," She said, brushing past him towards the cabinets.

Owen stood and the two of them shook hands politely. They didn't talk much. Neither of them really seeing the other as a "brother" truly. "It's nice to see you again, Anakin," He said.

"You too," Anakin replied. "How's farm-life treating you?"

He gave a half shrug, "Same as it's always been. But I'm hoping we can hire a few more hands soon. Once the baby's here I really just want to be there more, you know?"

Anakin nodded as he took a seat at the kitchen table. "Yeah, I saw the post. Congratulations!"

The proud parents-to-be beamed brightly as his mother placed glasses of lemonade in front of all four of them. "Cliegg won't be back for a little bit. That old harvester keeps breaking and he can't seem to fix it."

"I could take a look at it, Mom," Anakin offered. There hasn't been much of an opportunity for him to talk with the man, and he knew just how much him spending time with the man would mean to her.

Shmi waved her hand dismissively, "Don't bother, sweetie," She said. "That thing is at least fifty-years-old. The cost to keep it working is more than it's worth." She leaned in closer to him, "Besides, I've been trying to get him to buy a new one for months now. Maybe this time he'll listen."

"Still," He said, "If Cliegg wants me to take a look, it's no trouble."

Owen laughed from his seat at the counter, "How similar is a simple harvester to an airplane?" He asked.

"Not very," Anakin said with a shrug, "But once I take a look and see what's going on, I tend to be able to figure it out."

"Do I need to remind you about the microwave?" His mother asked with a raised brow, "What about the TV, the lawnmower, the car, and the vending machine at the gas station?"

Anakin felt his cheeks burn red with embarrassment. As a kid, he thought of himself as a mechanical genius and often tried to test his limits by experimenting on whatever he could find. Unfortunately, these tests occasionally turned out badly for him. "I _did_ eventually get the car fixed," He said. It was a weak defense, but it was true despite it taking five years to fix.

The loud ringing of the landline filled the kitchen as his mother got up to answer it. He couldn't make out exactly what was being said, but it sounded like Cliegg was on the other end. He'd noticed that his mother perked up whenever she spoke to him and hearing it now brought a smile to his face. His mother was happy. And for him, that meant everything.

* * *

The Arizona heat beat down on the back of his neck. He hasn't even been out in the sun too long but he could already feel his sweat starting to soak through the loose white t-shirt he wore. His hands were covered in grease as he leaned down into the harvester. Anakin had never seen such a machine before but it all seemed pretty straightforward. He knew how the engine worked, he had a pretty good idea of how all the parts are supposed to work. But he couldn't figure out how to get the pieces to fit without costing his step-father a fortune. Pulling his hands out of the harvester, he took the red grease cloth he had left hanging on the edge of it and started to wipe his hands.

Cliegg stood beside him, his hip leaning against the machine. The rim of his baseball cap was dark with sweat but the way he carried himself it didn't look like the heat had any effect on him. Farm life suited him. The man had grown up on this very farm and had been raised to work the land just as he was teaching his own son. When Cliegg married his mother, the man had offered to show him what he knew, but Anakin had politely declined. Standing under the scorching sun, he knew he wouldn't last a day doing what they did.

"I think my mom is right," Anakin said, wiping his forehead with the back of his arm. "I could probably get some things to fit in it but in the long run I don't think anything will hold up for long."

His face contorted as he let out a sad groan, "Well, can't say we didn't try," He mumbled. "Thanks for looking, son. I know this really isn't your thing."

Anakin gave a shrug, "Really, it's no problem. Now, why don't we go inside?"

His step-father laughed, "Too hot?" He asked. "Eh, we've probably been out here a bit too long anyway. Shmi should be just finishing up making dinner." He smiled as they started walking back around the barn and towards the house. "She's making a _feast_ for you!" He laughed.

Entering through the back door they were hit with the alluring smell of his favorite home-cooked foods. His stomach rumbled loudly as he avoided the kitchen to get to the stairs to the second level. He could feel the grease still on his skin and as much as he enjoys working with it, he'd much rather not eat in it. Anakin quickly jumped into the shower washing away the sweat and grime quickly before dressing in a clean shirt and basketball shorts and bounding down the stairs. Beru and Owen were bringing over the last of the dishes to the table when he arrived and they all took a seat. The food had smelled absolutely wonderful when he came into the house but actually seeing it made him feel like he hasn't eaten properly in years.

Lasagna and rip tips soaked in barbecue sauce, country fried potatoes, and honey grilled squash… waves of nostalgia hit him as the family started to pass the dishes around the table. Conversation flowed gently between them, moving from one topic to another. The connection between his mother and Cliegg's family was obvious. The four of them got on extremely well and almost routine. Anakin felt almost like an outsider, intruding on their family time but his mother did her best to try and include him even though he understood little about farm life and the locals in the area they had stories about.

The night slowly came to an end as the family cleaned up dinner and Owen and Cliegg retired to bed to get a good nights sleep for the early farm work they needed to do in the morning. Beru was not far behind them, the pregnancy draining her energy even this early into it. Anakin stayed up with his mother helping her clean the dishes that couldn't fit in the dishwasher.

He could feel her eyes on him as he dried one of the large platters and lifted his gaze to her. "I was thinking," She started, "How about tomorrow we do something? Just the two of us," She smiled with all the affection only a mother could give. "The fair is the day after tomorrow and I think we should all go to that. It's really a lot of fun. But tomorrow, maybe it could just be us."

Anakin smiled, "I'd like that," He said. It was as if his mother was inside his head. She always seemed to know exactly what he wanted or needed without him even saying a word. His stay was already short because he had a tight schedule to keep and so spending a full day just with his mom was the ideal way he wanted to spend his time.

* * *

The roar of engines, the blasts of warm air kicking up dust on the runway has Luke smiling a wide toothy grin as he practically drags her closer to the runway to get a better view of the take-off. She squeezes his hand tightly, not wanting to get separated from him in the crowds and telling him to relax. He practically whines as he is forced to slow down but the moment the aircraft comes into view, any frustration or anger vanishes. Eagerly he points at the old propeller plane and starts spewing facts at her about its history, loadout, and all manner of engineering feats. She smiles at him and asks him questions though she doesn't fully understand the answers. Luke doesn't seem to mind, simply lost in the magic of the airshow.

High above them, the stunt planes show off their tricks. Barrel rolls, loops, near misses… each pass of the aircrafts insights awe from the crowds below and have Luke happier than she has seen him in a long time. This trip was worth it. Originally it was a trip he was supposed to take with both of his parents. But Palo being Palo, he prioritized his work over his son and the worst part was that Luke wasn't even bothered by it. Palo missing out on his life had become so normal that failure was all but expected from the beginning. It broke her heart to see how he had such little expectations of his father. But there wasn't anything she could do to fix it. Palo had long since stopped listening to her.

Luke cheered loudly as the plane he had been raving about for weeks started to make its way down the runway. The engine sputtered as smoke billowed out of the exhaust before it started to roll down the strip, picking up speed as the nose started to lift off the ground. The spectators applauded as the plane pulled up into a sharp arc before corkscrewing down several hundred feet before pulling it level again. Two other planes joined the routine in a demonstration of the aircraft's versatility in a mock combat scenario. Padme crouched low next to her son, listening to his story about how the plane had served in one of the World Wars and its contribution to the air battles.

After being in the air for about a half an hour, the plane landed, giving Padme an opportunity to pry her son away so they could start to wind down the day. The show was going to officially end soon and she would rather they get out before traffic gets bad.

"But Mom!" Luke cried, pulling at her hand, "There's still so much left!"

She sighed as she pulled the schedule out of her bag. "The only thing left is the closing ceremony."

"Yup," He nodded, "It's when they give the crowd one final drive past before closing the hanger doors."

Padme raised a brow, "So the opposite of what they did in the opening ceremony?"

"Uh-huh…"

She shook her head as she watched people slowly start to make their way back to the makeshift parking lots haphazardly laid out on the grass fields. "I think we've seen enough for this trip, don't you think?" She asked.

"Yeah but…" His voice trailed off as he tried to think of another excuse.

Padme smiled and pinched his chin lightly. The sad look in his eye easily replaced by a giggle, "Come on, you," She said, her arm wrapping around her boy as they started to walk towards the fields.

* * *

By the time they reached their hotel, Luke was already sound asleep, exhausted from the trip and the excitement of the airshow, he looked so peaceful. Padme was loathed to wake her sleeping boy when she parked the rental car and so gently she hoisted him into her arms. Groaning at how heavy he was getting. It was fortunate their room was on the first floor as she wasn't certain she could carry him to the elevator and then to a room on a higher floor. Carefully she laid her son on his bed, pulling off his socks, shoes, and jeans before lovingly tucking him into bed. She smiled as she traced the smooth skin of his cheek. Even after nearly ten years, she was still in awe that he was hers. When she became pregnant with him it had been such a surprise and it felt like it would be such a setback on her life. Such thoughts are her greatest shame because from the moment he was born he was her greatest joy. How she could think such terrible things about him she can't possibly understand anymore. What had she done to deserve such a perfect son?

Gently she pushed a lock of his unruly hair back and off of his face. Even now she has no idea where he got that sandy blond hair. Both she and his father have dark hair and dark eyes. But Luke… Luke has light blond hair and deep blue eyes. The mysteries of genetics she supposes. At one time she probably learned about the topic in high school biology or something, but that information had long since been forgotten.

As if on autopilot, Padme slowly started to repack their suitcases. Her clean uniform hung in the closet and after checking it over to make sure it was neatly pressed, she rehung it right above the three-inch heels she had to wear. For the most part, her suitcase was already neat and organized, needing her to only put her toiletries in the front pocket in the morning. Luke's suitcase, on the other hand, was an absolute mess just like she expected it would be. The zipper was bulging out, clearly from being forced to zip when it was packed too high. Padme shook her head. If she hasn't told him once, she told him close to a thousand times that he needed to pack more neatly. But he listened to her about it just as often as he listens to her when she asks him to clean his room— never. She starts the slow process of unpacking the mess in his suitcase and refolding every article of clothing he had just thrown in without a care. Unsurprisingly clean clothes were also mixed with dirty clothes but that was something she could figure out when they got home. After finishing repacking Luke and pulling out what she hoped was clean clothes for the trip home, Padme changed into the loose sweatpants and tank top she wore to bed and climbed into her bed. Sparing her sleeping son one last glance to check that he was sleeping peacefully, she turned out the light and closed her eyes, finally letting sleep take her away.


	3. Chapter 3

**At this point in writing, I feel like there is going to be a lot of fluff.**

 **Happy Reading!**

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Chapter 3

He was late. Of all times to be late it had to be when Obi-Wan would be acting as Captain. This was not going to be a pleasant flight. Six hours stuck in a cockpit with a guy who would have this grumpy look on his face for most of the time was going to be borderline torture. Anakin sighed as he finally reached the Crew Report Center, he heaved a sigh as he slowed his gate, making his way towards his assigned briefing room. At least it was only Obi-Wan on this flight. Had it been Mace he was late with there may have been a chance he would have let one of the unlucky reserve pilots take the flight instead. Captain Mace Windu was commonly known to be very grim and difficult to impress. Once on his bad side, it was nearly impossible to get back in his good graces.

Stepping into the briefing room and shutting the door behind him, Anakin apologized to the six crew members that had been waiting for him. Obi-Wan sat at the head of the table, his hands wrapped around a hot cup of coffee. The bearded man raised a brow at him, giving him the same look he'd given him back when he was still a junior officer, the same look of disappointment that made him feel like a little boy who got caught somewhere they shouldn't be. Anakin brushed most of the feeling off. He and Obi-Wan were almost like brothers. He may hold it against him for a few weeks or months, but it wasn't damning.

"Yes, well, perhaps we should get this meeting started then, yes?" Obi-Wan cleared his throat as he and the crew went around to introduce themselves to him. Two of the flight attendants he already knew having flown with them on a few flights prior. Two he has seen around but never had the opportunity to fly with them yet. And the last one… the last one he remembered all too well as the one flight attendant he had met on his trip to Arizona. Padme… the way she looked at him when she introduced herself had his heart sink. She didn't seem to remember him. It shouldn't have been too surprising. They had only had one short conversation on the flight and then they parted ways. But it still hurt because he never forgot her. Her face haunted his dreams and he could still hear her laugh as clearly as the day he heard it. He wanted to say something. He wanted to tell her they had met a few months back. He wanted to tell her that he remembered her, that he had thought about her often… but that would be too forward, wouldn't it?

Instead, he did the professional thing. He kept quiet, listening as the crew briefed him on what he had missed. Most of it had been the flight crew establishing their stations and roles during the flight. They had held off talking about the weather, flight plans, and take-off procedures until he arrived, which he did appreciate. Now caught up, the meeting moved forward into his territory. Obi-Wan brought up the latest weather reports. The six-hour flight from Boston to Seattle looked like it could be a bumpy one with storms brewing in the Midwest. Right now it didn't look like it would be bad enough that they may have to be grounded early but regardless, he and Obi-Wan adjusted the main flight plan to accommodate the possibility that they may need to alter course around the storms. As it was only the two of them piloting the plane, deciding who would do the take-off and who would do the landing was a fairly simple decision to make. Anakin would get the plane in the air, handle flight for the first half, and then Obi-Wan would take the second half of flight and landing.

The rest of the meeting went by smoothly. All necessary decisions made and possible alternatives in place for any sort of trouble, all of it was fairly straightforward and routine. Forty-five minutes before the flight, the entire crew started to make their way to the aircraft to board. Stowing their bags and removing their jackets, Anakin and Obi-Wan climbed into their pilots' seats and started running through the preliminary checks. The older man gave him several side-eyed glances as they read through their lists and confirmed their flight plans with the tower. Behind them, boarding had slowly started. Padme and another flight attendant stood by the open cockpit door, greeting the passengers and helping the first few rows stow their carry-ons. Everything was routine. Nothing out of the ordinary. And once the last passenger was on board and the departure time was nearing, the cockpit door was sealed.

In near-constant communication with the flight controller, Anakin once again confirmed the plan and repeated the instructions he had been given. The Captain beside him ran the final pre-check lists before confirming that they were ready to go. He went through the motions, guiding the ship along the predetermined route to the runway as Obi-Wan gave the passengers the complementary greeting. Turning the large vessel on the tarmac so it was staring down the runway lined with illuminated lights, they conducted the final check, verbally confirming the readouts of their instruments and the positioning of their flaps and rudder before requesting the final permission to take-off. With permission granted, Anakin slowly took the throttle in his hand, gently easing it forward to full power. The twin engines on the wings roared as the plane started to move forward, gaining speed as it raced towards take-off speed. The cabin shook as they rolled down the runway, the flaps quickly giving them lift. Anakin pulled back on the yoke, easing the nose up to give them more lift until the shaking stopped and the wheels left the ground. Slowly the climbed to their approved cruising altitude, turning the plane as they went so they would be properly aligned with their flight path.

Once confident they were on course and the autopilot engaged, all seriousness from one of the most critical events in flying faded as the two of them settled in for the flight. Obi-Wan glanced at him as he kept his eyes focused on the instruments. "Everything alright?" The older pilot asked.

"Fine," He said. "Why?"

He gave a shrug, "You seem a bit on edge," He said casually. "Is it that flight attendant?"

"What?"

Obi-Wan chuckled, his arms crossing over his chest amused. "The flight attendant. The one you kept staring at when you thought no one would notice," He said, smiling as he leaned slightly closer and whispered, "I noticed."

Anakin rolled his eyes as the pilot laughed.

"Oh, come now," He said, "Tell me," He urged. "Clearly there was… something?"

"It was nothing," He said with a scoff. "She didn't even recognize me."

"But you met her before, right?"

Anakin shrugged, "Sorta… I met her kid—"

"Kid?"

"Yeah," He sighed as he took a moment to check the flight course. He knew there was no reason to, he knew it was all correct but he also knew Obi-Wan would stop pestering him while it looked like he was doing something important. "She has a son," He said as he leaned back in his seat. "He sat next to me on that trip I took to see my mom."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at him, "She has a son and you think it's a good idea to be attracted to her?"

"I'm not attracted to her," He denied.

"You are and you're just upset that you're not as good as hiding your feelings as you think," He said. "Either way, that's not the point. The point is, she has a child. Which means she very well might have someone in her life already. If you want my advise don't do anything stupid."

Anakin couldn't help but laugh, "You think I don't know that?"

"I know you well enough to know that even if you do know that, you will probably do it anyway."

"Hey!"

* * *

The first half of the flight went by as smoothly as could be expected. They hit one or two rough patches of air but slight adjustments to altitude easily got them out. Anakin transferred control over to Obi-Wan and after finishing relaying flight control to the next tower, Anakin decided he needed to take a moment to stretch his legs. Pulling away from his seat, he called one of the flight attendants to the cockpit door. A muffled knock and after checking through the peephole to see if it was the flight attendant, he opened the door and switched places with her as she reengaged the lock behind him. The cabin crew looked to be finishing up the on flight drink service. His timing couldn't have been better. He knew it wouldn't be much longer before a line started to form for the lavatories and the one thing that was worse than trying to move around in a bathroom barely big enough for one person to turn around without knocking into anything, it was awkwardly standing in the aisles waiting to use said lavatory.

Anakin quickly moved to occupy the lavatory, doing what he needed to before taking a few minutes to refocus his eyes and wipe his face down with a damp paper towel. Outside the plane the sun was starting to set. The bright colors cast across the sky were blinding at times and left him and Obi-Wan squinting through the windshield at times and the direct sunlight shining on them often heated the cockpit despite having the air blasting. Passengers had it easier in that regard. Once he was satisfied, and feeling a little cooler, he slid open the door and stepped outside, only to run directly into a flight attendant. His hand flew to her waist while hers braced against his chest.

"Sorry!" They said simultaneously, the plastic bag of trash clattering to the floor at their feet.

"Here, let me—" Anakin said, bending at the same time as her to pick up the fallen bag. Their heads bumped together, leading to another apology from both of them followed quickly by their laughter. "Here," He tried again, slowly crouching down to grab the rim of the bag and rising back to his full height.

She brushed a loose strand of brown hair behind an ear as she looked up at his face and smiled at him. His smile grew, recognizing her immediately. Padme.

"Thank you," She said. "I'm sorry for running into you like that."

He shook his head, "No, no. It was my fault, really. _I'm_ sorry." He stood there staring at her for what felt like only a moment but it must have been longer. The next thing he knew, a passenger was awkwardly trying to squeeze past them to the open lavatory door. He felt his cheeks heat up as he placed his arm on Padme's and eased them out of the way.

She cleared her throat and gave him another polite smile, "I should probably go about my rounds again," She muttered. "Do you and the Captain want anything? Water? Coffee maybe?"

"Uh, sure," He said, his hand scratching at his neck, "Water would be good, thanks." Padme nodded, and squeezed past him towards one of the storage lockers and pulled out two bottled of water and handed them to him. "Thank you," He said again. "Enjoy the flight." Anakin quickly turned on his heels and walked back towards the cockpit. _Enjoy the flight_ he muttered in his head, _idiot! Stupid! What was I thinking saying that?_ The cockpit door opened and entered as the flight attendant who had taken his spot earlier returned to the cabin. _Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!_ As he returned to his seat there was little doubt in his mind Obi-Wan could read him, and was holding back some snide remark he would probably hear once they landed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Short chapter! But the next one will be longer I promise! Next one also might be in Padme's POV (What do you guys think about that?)**

 **Happy Reading!**

* * *

Chapter 4

"Flight course change acknowledge, depending to 25,000 feet, and turning ten degrees South." Anakin read through the readouts and relayed the information to Obi-Wan who focused on following the commands of the flight controller. With less than an hour left on the flight, Seattle seemed to have a massive thunderstorm on the way and the airport had reported that delays were already in place on most flights to the city and outbound traffic was limited while the only inbound flights allowed to land were the ones already in the air. Anakin let out a sigh as he made a minor adjustment to the flaps, "Looks like we're in for a bumpy landing," He said.

A jolt of turbulence rocked the plane, "Yes, and it looks like it's starting now," Obi-Wan said, flipping the switch so he could address the passengers and cabin crew. "Ladies and gentlemen," He started, "As we near our destination it looks like we're going to be hitting a few patches of turbulence as the weather over the city is currently storming. We will do our best to make the remainder of the flight a comfortable one for you. We have turned on the 'fasten seatbelt' sign and would greatly appreciate if you would stay in your seats for the remainder of the flight." Just as he finished addressing the passengers and disengaged the link to the cabin, another powerful wave of turbulence shook the plane as a barrage of rain fell upon them. "Blast," Obi-Wan hissed as he pulled back on the yoke.

Anakin engaged his controls and gave a tug on his yoke to assist in keeping the plane steady but to little avail. Reaching out to flight control, he made the request for smoother air but due to the high number of requests, they were denied. It wouldn't do much good anyway. They were going to be starting their final approach soon and would have to pass through it sooner or later. Smoothing out the flight as much as they could, Anakin and Obi-Wan fought through each wave of turbulence they hit leveling out when they could, riding through it when they had to, Anakin tried to keep the plane steady with the foot pedals at Obi-Wan's orders. Rain pelted down against the windshield limiting their visibility of the approaching airport. Anakin could just barely make out the lights on the Space Needle but that very narrow visibility would have to be enough.

As the airport just barely came into view as they passed through the lower level of the clouds a strong gust hit the right wing and they veered. Obi-Wan gave the order to level out but another gust picked up below them and gave them a lift they did not need. "Lowering slats," Anakin said as he angled the wing of the plane to reduce drag. The plane started to level out as Obi-Wan requested another approach. The new angle from the turbulence set them up for an angled landing and while it could be landed, Obi-Wan was not the kind of man to take unnecessary risks. The rain made for slippery conditions and the wind posed a risk to throw them further off their approach.

Their request was approved. And after ascending several hundred feet and making a pass at the airport to circle back around, they lined the plane back up with enough leeway to account for the possibility of another gust of air hitting them. As gently as they could manage in the weather, they tilted the nose of the plane up as they neared the ground and with a hard landing, the back wheels hit. All flaps and slats were fully extended as the plane raced down the runway until it came to a near-stop at the end of the runway. "Another happy landing," Obi-Wan said as he smoothed his hair back. Flight control guided them off the runway and towards the terminal and once their plane was at a complete stop at the gate, they ran through the post-flight checklist to make sure everything was shut down properly.

Obi-Wan opened the cockpit door when they were finished, his jacket hung over his arm and his bag sitting on the jump seat as they waited for all the passengers to get off. Anakin leaned against the door beside him, his jacket was hanging on the extended handle of his roller bag as he wheeled it back and forth.

"Looks like all outbound flights are canceled now," Obi-Wan said as he scrolled through his phone. "This is not what I needed tonight," He groaned as he opened his texting app.

"Satine?" Anakin asked.

"I told her I'd be home tomorrow morning," He said. "I was supposed to fly out of Seattle and into Sacramento."

"She'll understand."

Obi-Wan scoffed, "I doubt it. She's been asking me to leave the company," He muttered.

"What?"

He gave a shrug, "It wouldn't be that bad. There are regional jets I could fly. Won't nearly make as much and the locations aren't as interesting. But I'd be there." A small smile formed on the older man's lips. "I… I think perhaps it might be time for me to consider that."

Anakin raised a surprised brow at him, "I… didn't expect that," He said. "I never thought you of all people…"

He gave a shrug, "Satine is worth it," He said. "If she never wanted me to fly again… I would probably do it. For her."

A sly smile tugged at Anakin's lips, "So… does that mean you're going to marry her?"

Despite his beard, Anakin could clearly see the blush forming on the man's face, "W-we'll see." He said simply, his eyes averting back out to the cabin. A smirk of his own formed on his lips, "And what about your flight attendant?" He asked.

Anakin blanched, his roller bag bumping into his leg from being caught off guard. _Have a nice flight!_ The words rang in his head once again and he was tempted to slam his head into the door. His prolonged silence only made Obi-Wan laugh and instead of dignifying a response, he kept quiet after all, she was close enough that she could probably hear them if he said anything. He watched as she stood by the door, waving passengers off. Her back was too him but he could easily hear the tiredness in her voice. Most likely she was thinking about the same thing he was. With so many flights canceled, flight crews would now have to scramble to adjust their schedules and find a hotel to stay in for the night. And for her, she probably had to also move around family stuff as well.

As the last passenger stepped off the entire demeanor of the flight crew shifted dramatically. Shoulders slumped and plastered smiles disappeared as exhaustion and frustration about the cancelations set in. Obi-Wan squeezed passed him the moment he could, politely thanking the entire crew as he stepped off and made his way up the gangway, his phone pressed against his ear. One by one the rest of the crew started to step off and Anakin followed suit. Unlike the rest of the crew, his mind wasn't completely focused on the weather. _Have a nice flight!_ He wanted to fix that. He had to fix that. The less than two minutes it would take to get them into the terminal was enough for him to figure out he should just say hello… but he didn't get any farther than that.

The loud bustle of the terminal drew closer and he could clearly see the doors that would send them on their individual ways. He had to act fast! She had barely taken a step into the airport when he closed the distance between them, "Hi!" He said. Padme stopped and turned around to face him, side-stepping so she wasn't standing directly in the path of the door. Anakin smiled as he pulled over beside her. "Hi…" He said again, silently kicking himself for not saying something else. _Stupid!_

"Hi," She said.

Anakin raised his hand to scratch at the back of his neck, "Uh, you probably don't remember me," He started, "But we met a few months ago, on the flight to Arizona… you were taking your son to an airshow."

Her eyes widened in recognition. _Finally!_ "You're that flyboy that sat next to him, aren't you?"

He smiled and bowed his head, "Guilty," He said. "Uh, I don't think we were properly introduced back then."

Padme returned his smile, "Either way, four months is a long time."

He laughed as he held out his hand to her, "I'm Anakin. Anakin Skywalker."

"Padme Naberrie," She returned. "It's nice to meet you."

"Same," He said. Awkwardly they shook hands a little longer than what would be polite until they seemed to realize it at the same time and tried to laugh it off as they let go. Anakin scratched the back of his neck again as she rubbed at her forearm. "So…" He started.

"So…" She repeated, neither really certain where to go from here.

"Uh, so, looks like we're stuck here," He said. She nodded and he continued, "Have you ever stayed in Seattle before?"

She gave a shrug, "Once or twice," She said. "Never really strayed too far from the airport though."

"Well, there's a small restaurant not too far from here. It's also really close to a hotel. Would you… maybe like to join me?" He asked. He hoped she would say yes.

Padme smiled at him, "That… That sounds nice. I'd like that."

The joy and the relief he felt made him want to jump and shout _yes!_ But he steeled himself and cleared his throat, and motioned for them to start on the way to the exit.


	5. Chapter 5

**Geez it's hard to write dates! Hopefully this turned out ok!**

 **Happy Reading!**

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Chapter 5

Anakin seemed nice. A little shy and he definitely had a dorky quality to him… but it was charming on him. Majority of the Uber ride to the restaurant was quiet save for the rain hitting the roof and the swiping sounds of the wipers. They talked a little about the city and things they had both done in the past. Obviously, they had both been to the Space Needle at least once and taken a ferry ride around the city. But there were little things she had done that he hadn't and vice versa. He was an action movie fan and so he had gone to see the gravesite of Bruce Lee. She was a lifelong learner and so she had been to one or two of the museums around the city.

The restaurant he had picked was small and close to the waterfront and just as he'd said a hotel was only a block or two away. A soft breezed picked at her hair as Anakin hesitantly pulled her close to him so they could share his umbrella for the short walk from where they had been dropped off to the door of the restaurant. Despite the closeness, half of his coat ended up being drenched by the time they got inside and he pretended not to even notice.

The salty smell of the ocean and freshly cooked fish filled the air and she couldn't remember the last time she'd had fresh Pacific seafood. The atmosphere of the restaurant was pleasant, relaxed and far from the loud boisterous kind of place she knew the rest of the flight crew were probably going. This restaurant was nice not the kind of nice that had staff wearing suits and white aprons nice, but the family-friendly nice. The kind of place friends might go for a casual dinner or even a first date. She liked it.

The hostess led them to a small table in the main dining room along the wall. She and Anakin stowed their bags against the wall. Their waiter arrived not long after to take their drink orders. He had a water and a beer on tap while she only wanted a water. Both of them picked up their menus and read through their options. It was obvious he had been here before, by the time their drinks arrived his menu was already down having already decided on what he wanted. She used the protection the menu gave her to glance at him every once in a while. She couldn't deny he was handsome. Broad shouldered, bright blue eyes and sandy blond hair and a cleft chin… if Dorme ever saw him she knew her friend's jaw would drop and hit the floor like a brick. But Padme knew better than to judge a book by its cover. "What would you recommend?" She asked him.

He smiled at her, "Their baked cod is pretty good," He said. "I love their wood grilled salmon though. They actually serve it on a wood plank."

She couldn't help but laugh at the novelty of it. Her eyes returned to the menu as she narrowed down her options. "Have you ever had the seafood paella?" She asked.

"The shrimp in that thing are huge!" He said, "Honestly, anything this place does with seafood is great." Padme put her menu down and when their waiter returned they put their orders in as the waiter collected their menus and left them alone.

"So…" He started, "How's Luke been?" He asked.

"Good," She said, smiling at the thought of her boy, "He's staying with my sister this weekend while I'm here. He… wasn't too excited about spending three full days with my nieces though. What boy does?" She laughed. "This month's schedule has been hard on him. I've seen him maybe three or four days so far and I call him every night but… I was supposed to be on an outbound flight back to Boston tonight so I could see him tomorrow morning before he goes to school. But it looks like this delay'll keep me at least another day." She sighed and gave a shrug, "The good thing is I got him a new model at the beginning of the month. I know it won't make up for lost time but… I hope it will at least keep him occupied…" Padme shook her head, "I'm sorry, that's probably a longer answer than you wanted."

"Don't worry about it," He said. "It's probably harder on you than it is on him anyway."

She nodded her head as she took a sip of her water, "That's what everyone tells me."

"And if my experience is anything to go by, they're right on this." Anakin bit his lip as his gaze left hers in favor of the small dent in the wooden table. She could tell from the shy expression on his face and the way he traced the rim of the dent on the table that what he wanted to say was personal and something he didn't talk about. "My mom… she worked two jobs just to take care of me," He said. "Sometimes I'd see her for maybe an hour or two before I had to leave for school or she had to start one of her shifts somewhere. It was hard," He admitted, "But I could tell it was harder on her. I mean, she did miss a lot of things… but she was always there for the really important things." His eyes looked up to meet hers. "I know you're doing everything you can for him. That's what he really needs."

Padme shook her head. Everything he said was sweet and she could feel the honesty in his words. "Anakin, you don't even know me," She said. How could he possibly know anything about her or Luke? Who was he to presume—

"Maybe," He conceded with a shrug, "But I'd like to…" A small blush dusted his cheeks as their eyes locked. Did— did he really just… "I… I'm sorry, was… was that too forward?" He asked.

Was it? It had caught her off guard. But it wasn't like he'd asked to marry him or anything. He just wanted to get to know her. Was that forward? Padme hasn't even been on a date in so long… most of the men who had shown interest in her had only been interested in a physical relationship and she always walked the other way from those men. But Anakin seemed to want something else. Part of her was excited by the prospect of seeing someone who wanted to know who she was. Excited that he seemed like a kind, caring man who gave the impression of someone who could really get along with her son. The other part of her, however, was telling her to shut him down. She had too much on her plate to add the responsibilities of maintaining a relationship let alone a relationship with someone she doesn't even know!

Fortunately, she was saved from answering right away at the timely arrival of their meals. Silence fell between them as they started to eat. The conversation eventually picked pack up as they started to eat, topics sticking to safer terrain this time around. They talked a little about work and figured out some of their mutual acquaintances within the company. Padme asked him about how he decided to become a pilot.

Anakin gave a shrug, "I always liked planes," He said. "For my fifth birthday, my mom flew us from Tucson to Phoenix for the day. I didn't really want to go to Phoenix… I just wanted to fly in a plane." A right side of his mouth curled into a smile, "When we took off and I saw the world below me, and then when we got up high enough I could see the tops of the clouds… I just knew it's what I wanted to do." What was it with this man catching her off guard? She'd expected him to say something like he wanted to be an Air Force pilot like in Top Gun. Not something borderline poetic. Everything he said, he said it in a way that just sounded too perfect to be true. And yet, she found herself believing him.

"What about you?" He asked, "How'd you get into all of this?"

Padme laughed and shook her head, "Oh, I've never really been into any of it," She said honestly. "I never even considered a career in aviation before I had Luke. I always thought I'd end up in law school or something."

His brow furrowed, "Law school?" He said, "That's… a pretty big leap."

Padme gave him a tight smile, "Yeah, well… Not long after I had Luke, his father and I separated," She said. "Everything got thrown off track. I now had to find a babysitter, a way to do my school work while taking care of a baby, a job…" She shook her head as she twisted her fork in the orzo on her plate, "It didn't take long for my grades to slip and then I made the decision that college wasn't going to work out like I wanted it to. Luke needed me. So, I dropped out, moved back home to be closer to my parents so I could get help. I've known Dorme since high school so when she told me about her plans to become a flight attendant, and to be honest the insurance policies were what really attracted me." Padme gave a small shrug as she hid her face by taking a drink. She didn't like to talk about why she took the job. Of all the things she had ever done, choosing her career based on salary and employee benefits was low especially for her. But what other option did she have? Low-income insurance was not readily available back then. She could have taken a chance and gone without insurance… but it was a risk she refused to take on her son.

Anakin's eyes flashed with sympathy as his fingers twitched around the fork and knife in his hands. "That… He just left you alone?" He asked.

She gave a shrug, "Back then he had it in his head he was going to make a fortune on his paintings. I told him he had to choose. Us or his art."

"And he chose the art."

Padme nodded her head, "Eventually his art took a backseat when he got a job working for a private art dealer in Paris. Now he pays child support, and he visits every once in a while but… it's obvious he loves his work more than anything else."

"I'm sorry," He said.

She smiled at him, "It's alright. As terrible as it was back then, I'm over it now and my life has only gotten better without him," She said. "So…" She sighed, deciding it was a good time to get the conversation off of her sad story, "I've told you my tragic love life. It's only fair for you to tell me yours."

Anakin chuckled lightly as he shook his head, "Oh, my love life is far from the Greek tragedy," He said, pushing away his empty dish so he could fold his elbows on the table. "I had a girlfriend a few years ago," He said, giving a shrug, "We dated for like two years but she dumped me for her Navy Officer high school sweetheart."

"Ouch…"

"You're telling me," He laughed. "My life has been pretty boring ever since."

The remainder of the dinner went by with a much lighter tone. Even after he paid the bill despite her insistence that they split it, they stayed at the table talking until she yawned and they both checked their watches. They'd been there for a little over two hours. With some reluctance, they left. Walking side by side the few blocks to the hotel. The rain had finally let up and was only drizzling. When they arrived at the hotel they both checked in and shared an elevator to the floor their rooms were on. When they reached the end of the main hallway that would separate them, they paused and faced one another.

"Thank you for dinner," She said.

"Any time," He returned, his smile slipping into a nervous lip bite. "Would you… maybe like to share a cab to the airport?" He asked.

Padme smiled but shook her head, "My next flight is in the afternoon," She said, not missing the sad 'oh,' he mumbled. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a folded plane ticket and a pen. Quickly she jotted down her phone number and handed it to him. "But maybe we can get some breakfast in the morning before you go," She said, nearly laughing at the way his eyes almost popped out of his head. Their hands briefly touched as she passed him the ticket and she took a few backward steps down the hall towards her room.

Her mind flashed back to earlier in the evening. _You don't even know me,_ she'd said to him. _maybe. But I'd like to…_ he'd smiled when he said it. He'd meant it. And something about him just felt… different. He wasn't like anyone else she had ever known and deep down she had the feeling that if they parted without saying another word she would one day come to regret that choice. "By the way," She said, feeling her heart start to race in her chest. "It wasn't too forward," Padme turned around quickly and started to walk a little faster down the hall to her room. Her words had been vague. She could have worded it better so that she knew that he knew… by God she hoped he knew. Opening her hotel room, Padme leaned her back against the door and sighed. Just what exactly had she started?


	6. Chapter 6

**The best part about long car trips where I'm not driving: I have time to write this! I have so many partially written stubs for this story and I just can't wait to get to most if not all of them!**

 **Happy Reading!**

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Chapter 6

He watched as she started to walk down the dimly lit hallway of the hotel. Did that really just happen? Anakin glanced down at the crumpled ticket in his hand. Scribbled over the information were ten legible digits. A phone number —her phone number. An almost giddy smile crossed his face as he turned down the hallway towards his own room. Opening the door he stepped inside and set about organizing his belongings. He hung up his blazer, loosened his tie until he could slip it off and hung it over the head of a hanger before kicking off his shoes and pulling his belt from the loops. Anakin pulled his shirt from his pants as he sat back down on the bed with his phone in his hand, intent on adding her to his contact list before he lost her number forever.

 _It wasn't too forward_ … that's what she had said. Did… did that mean she was interested in him too? She'd said her loser ex had left her years ago, but that didn't mean she wasn't dating someone at the moment, right? But then, she wouldn't have said what she said if she was, would she? But what if she only meant she wanted to get to know him as a friend only? Anakin groaned as he flopped back on the bed, his hands covering his face… why was this so hard?

He heaved a sigh as he glanced at his phone again, checking and double checking that he typed in her number correctly before hitting the "Create New Contact" button then closing the app and tossing his phone onto the mattress beside him. This date had gone better than he had hoped. He hadn't expected her to even agree to go to dinner with him, but she had. When he first saw her he had thought she was the most beautiful person he had ever seen. Unconsciously his mind had built up a backstory for her one that was just as perfect as her. But to his horror, her story was far from the perfection he had envisioned. She'd been abandoned, left alone with a child to raise. Part of her story reminded him of his mother's and how she had given up her dreams to take care of him and he couldn't help but feel for her. He didn't know too much about lawyer stuff, but he was certain that she would have been amazing at it if she'd gone to law school.

Lazily, he stretched his arms over his head and let out a wide yawn. He had an early flight to fly to Vancouver before he would get caught up to where his schedule should be. From there he was flying down to Milwaukee before one last flight to Denver by the end of the end of the day. Tomorrow was going to be a heavy day for him. But the day after he had an entire day free to enjoy Denver. Anakin groaned as he sat up and undid the rest of the buttons on his shirt and tossed it onto the end of the bed before standing up and pulling his pants off and carelessly throwing them on top of the shirt and doing the same with his socks. Walking over to his bag, he pulled out his chargers and plugged them into the outlet next to the bed before setting his alarm early and then climbed under the covers and letting the sweet dreams and memories of his date with Padme drift him off to sleep.

* * *

They met in the lobby the next morning. He was dressed in his uniform, gold wings clipped proudly to his breast and his tie clipped to his shirt. His blazer and his cap were absent, tucked safely away in his suitcase that he rested his elbow against as he watched her close the distance between them pulling her suitcase along behind her. Unlike him, she wasn't dressed in her uniform yet. Instead, she wore jeans and a graphic tee with a jacket. His smile broadened when he saw she was only wearing flats. She had to crane her head even more just to see his face. God, she was so short!

As if sensing what he was thinking, she squinted up at him, "How's the weather up there?" She said between laughs with a light blush on her cheeks.

Anakin snorted, "If it starts to rain, I'll let you know," He said.

"You mean 'when'," She said, "You know it rains a lot here."

He laughed and shook his head, "Well, you ready?"

"Of course," she said and the two of them walked through the automatic doors and onto the street.

Padme told him about a little diner near the airport she and Dorme had gone to the last time they had stayed in the city. It sounded like the perfect place for them to get some food. Close enough to the airport for him and yet far enough away that she could enjoy her morning before she too would have to go to the airport. The diner itself was small with about twenty tables or so and a long bar area. It wasn't very crowded, there was an older gentleman sitting at the bar with a coffee reading a newspaper, a young family with two kids eating at the corner table, and an elderly couple sitting in a booth. A small bell chimed when they opened the door and they were greeted by a hostess who looked like she was still in college led them to a booth by the front window. The entire place had a homey feel to it like one of those feel-good Southern comfort food restaurants he'd been to in Louisiana.

It was easy for both of them to figure out what they both wanted. Both of them ordered coffee which he drank straight while she added cream and sugar to hers. When it came time to order he got the Meat Lover's Skillet with a side of pancakes while she got the Cinnamon French Toast with a side of eggs. Padme smiled as the waitress left. "There was a diner just like this one when I was a kid," She started. "My mom never liked it, complained that my sister and I would get fat if we ate there too often," She laughed as she stirred her coffee, "That didn't stop my dad from sneaking us out of the house to go sometimes after my mom left for work."

Anakin smiled, "Did your mom ever find out?"

"I think she always knew," She said in a whisper. "You know how parents have that cryptic way of talking about their kids that sounds like they aren't talking about them, but they really are?"

Anakin gave a small shrug, "I think so…" He said, "I mean, I think I get that feeling around Obi-Wan sometimes…"

The color drained from her face, "Oh, God, I-I'm sorry I wasn't—"

He raised his hand and laughed as he tried to calm her, "It's okay, it's okay," He started, "You didn't upset me or anything. You can't miss what you never had, right?" He placed his hand over hers and smiled at her. She seemed to start to calm down as his thumb rubbed against her knuckles, "So anyway…"

Padme took a small breath, "My mom would say things to my dad that just sounded like they had this weird tone to it. Sometimes it would be something about leftover night, or groceries… I don't know… it's… kinda hard to explain. It was just a feeling. But once my sister was in high school we swore she had to know."

He laughed and leaned back in his seat, "I think I know what you mean," He said. "There was this mechanic that lived down the street from us. We didn't like him, but he was the only one in town so we didn't really have a choice but to use him. He'd charge anyone an arm and a leg for something as simple as an oil change if he could get away with it. Anyways, the transmission in the car broke. He charged my mom more than it was worth but got it fixed up for her and just had her pay later. She had to work extra shifts for two months just to make the payment. I didn't know about any of that until after the fact. But when I found out, I snuck into the bastard's garage. He had this one car he was working on in his free time that he kept bragging would make him rich." Anakin shook his head, "It was nothing," He said with a wave of his hand, "None of the parts were originals and the model was more common than he claimed. Anyway, "I packed the tailpipe with sawdust and rewired it so the radio would turn on with the wipers and the wipers would turn on with the gas… basically, the car was a mess afterwards."

Her eyes were wide as he told the story, "And you were how old?"

He gave a shrug, "Ten? Eleven, maybe?" He shrugged again, "Young enough no one suspected it was me. Besides, everyone knew the guy was a crook. I think he moved a few years later anyway. Shop closed down after a new mechanic moved in." Their waitress returned with their food and gave him a refill of coffee while Padme ordered a water.

She shook her head as she cut into her breakfast, "I can't believe you did something like that," She said.

"My mom interrogated me for _hours_ when she found out what happened," He said, "I never told her though. But I did get in trouble, supposedly for something I did at school, but I had a feeling it was also for that as well." Anakin nodded as he took another bite from his skillet, "This is really good," He said and she smiled and nodded in agreement. "So I don't think you told me where you're based out of," He said.

"Boston," She said. "You?"

"Philadelphia."

"Let me guess, Eagles fan?"

Anakin gave a shrug, "Only when I have to be," He said. "To be honest I'm not much of a football fan. Hockey is more my thing."

"So Flyers then or… Penguins?"

An almost nervous smile crossed his lips as he made a show of looking around as if making sure no one is listening before he leaned in closer, his hand held up to cover the side of his mouth so no one could read his lips, "I'm actually a Toronto Maple Leaves fan." Padme's brow raised in surprise as she paused mid-bite and he couldn't help but laugh, "Is it really that surprising?"

"That the city of Philadelphia hasn't murdered you yet? Yes!" They shared a laugh, both of them knowing full well from the sports seasons how devout the city is to their sports teams. This is the city that nearly burned down their city when they WON a Super Bowl!

"Well, I've learned to watch my games at home and cheer for the home team when I'm out," He said. "When I first moved to the city I lived with a roommate for a while and I had to keep all of my Maple Leaves merch hidden in the back of my closet. Those were the most trying months of my life," He said. "I had to watch the games on my tiny phone screen with headphones!"

"Poor you," She joked.

"I'm serious!" He said though the smile on his face said otherwise. "Every time I came back I had to wonder 'is this the day I die?'"

"Sure you did," She scoffed.

"Oh, like you didn't have a similar problem?" He challenged. "From what I know about Boston, they're also pretty intense about their sports teams."

She gave a shrug as she took a sip of water through her straw, "It's not a problem if you don't watch sports," She said. "My dad is a die-hard Red Sox fan. Season ticket holder, 'stop everything the Red Sox are on!' fan," She said. "I've had my fair share of fanatics."

"So does that mean your son is a Sox fan then?"

She scoffed, "Hell no! Much to my dad's displeasure, Luke never really liked baseball. He only goes to the games with my dad because he gets to have funnel cake."

Anakin laughed, "That'll get him every time."

"You're telling me," She said with a smile.

* * *

Much like the previous night, they talked for as long as they could but eventually, the time came when they had to part ways. This time Padme paid the bill and they left the small diner walking closer to one another than they had the night before. Anakin smiled down at her as his Uber pulled up to the curb. He didn't want to leave. If he could spend the entire day with her, he would. Finally knowing more about her than just her name, he wanted so badly to know everything about her. But that would have to wait for another time. He hoped it would be soon.

"So…" He said.

"So…" She repeated. "This is goodbye then?"

He bit his lip, "Yeah…" He said. "But I'll call you later?"

She smiled, "I'd like that," She said. "Maybe next time I'm in Philly or you're in Boston—"

"—We could do this again?"

Padme nodded and the smiles on both their faces grew. "I look forward to it, then," He said.

"Me too." She took a hesitant step closer to him as their hands touched. Should he kiss her? He wanted to, but did she want to as well? He thought she did. Slowly he leaned closer, their foreheads touched briefly and their lips were so close…

The loud car horn from the Uber driver made them jump and pull apart before their lips could touch. Blushes covered both of their cheeks as they gave each other nervous goodbyes and promises to call and text later before he hurried to load his suitcase in the trunk and climb into the backseat. His eyes narrowed at the driver as hey pulled away from the curb and started the drive to the airport. "You are so getting a bad review!" He hissed at the driver.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for the long wait! I've been a bit out of the writing mood but I think it's starting to come back.**

 **Happy Reading!**

* * *

Chapter 7

"Mom!"

She'd barely stepped through the door before she caught sight of Luke running full speed towards her. Padme dropped to her knees to meet her son's excited hug. "Oh, I missed you so much!" She said, kissing the side of his head before pulling back from the hug and cupping his cheeks in her hands.

"Was the storm bad? Did you fly through it?" She laughed as her son blurted out a million questions at her. "Can we go home now?" He asked. "Pooja wants me to play dolls with her!"

Padme shook her head and ruffled his mop of blond hair, "In a little bit, Sweetie. Your aunt and I want to talk for a little while." Luke groaned, nervously looking back up the stairs where his cousin's room was. "Just play with her for a little bit. You know it's just because she wants to spend time with you." He whined and looked like he was going to complain again, but he just sighed and started to sulk all the way back up the stairs, calling his cousins' names as he went. Padme smiled as she stood back up and looked over towards her sister standing in the archway to the living room.

Sola was only a few years older than Padme and still fairly thin despite being three months pregnant with her third child. The two sisters shared a silent smile before embracing one another in a tight hug, "I'm sorry you had to keep him an extra day," Padme said.

Her sister scoffed and pulled back, waving her apology off, "Don't worry about it," She said. "You gotta work, you gotta work. Besides, he's my nephew and the girls just adore him."

"Too bad it's not the same for him," Padme muttered.

"He's a boy! He's still at the age where he thinks they're gross." Sola looped her arm through hers and the two of them walked through the living room towards the kitchen. "Good thing is Darred is pretty good at entertaining him when he gets back from work," She said as she motioned for Padme to sit while she grabbed two teacups and the hot kettle steaming on the stove and brought them over to the table. "Though I'm not sure what his bosses will say if they find out a ten-year-old helped design that new urgent care building," She joked, putting the kettle back on the stove and returning with a tin of tea.

"I'm sure he had a lot of fun with that," Padme said, pulling a tea bag from the tin and dipping it in the water.

"He finished that model he brought with him," She said. "Had to figure something out so he wouldn't go crazy here playing with my little girls."

"I'm really sorry—"

"Hey, hey, I told you not to worry about that!" She said.

"I can't help it," She sighed, "You know I would be with him more if I could—"

"I know. But even putting work aside, raising a kid alone is a tall order for anyone."

Padme smiled as she brought the tea to her lips. Her sister was a Godsend in every sense of the word. She wasn't sure what she would do without her. Of course, she had their parents but, sometimes it felt like they judge her for her choices. They love her and they absolutely love Luke but… she was very young when she had Luke and there were so many opportunities she missed because of the timing of everything. Once he started school, they had tried to talk her into going back to college. But financially that just was not an option. She still had loans from her last attempt at school to pay off, loans she had to take out so she could get a place to live, she still had normal expenses to take care of and she couldn't keep her job and go to school at the same time. It wasn't that she didn't want to go back to school and make the dreams she had carried most of her life a reality, but it was just not a good time. And the longer she waited, the less point there was in going. She had a good job. It was not even close to what she wanted to do, but that happened to a lot of people. And with her parents, sometimes it just felt like they couldn't understand that.

"How was your extra day in Seattle? Sola asked after a moment, "Did it rain the entire time?"

Unintentionally, her mind flashed back to her breakfast with Anakin. Despite the rain that seemed to have a constant presence in the city, it did little to dampen the good mood their conversation put her in. "It was off and on," she said with a shrug, "I got out before the low-pressure system hit."

Sola raised a brow at her as she placed her cup down on the table and pointed at Padme's face. "What is that about?" She asked, her lips curling into a sly smile.

"What?"

"That!" She said, jabbing her finger towards her face, "That blush," She whispered, letting out a gasp, "You did something! Or _someone_ perhaps?"

Padme rolled her eyes, "Don't be ridiculous!"

"Uh-uh," She said with a shake of her head, "You forget how well I know you, dear sister! Tell me _everything_!"

She shook her head and sighed heavily. Sola was not going to let her get away. She never did. Even as children the moment there was even a hint that she may have a crush on someone, Sola pounced, determined to figure out who it was and to size them up and give her tips on how to woo them. For the most part, it was annoying but there had been times where it was useful and she could always count on her to help her get out of awkward dates and the like. "It wasn't anything," Padme said, ignoring the skeptical look on her sister's face. "It was dinner with a co-worker and then we met for breakfast before we left for work."

"Uh-huh… And?" She goaded.

Padme rolled her eyes, "We stayed in separate rooms," She said, hoping that would shut her down.

It didn't. "Was he cute?"

She gave a shrug, "I guess…" He was, but Sola didn't need to know that.

"Are you going to see him again? Do you have his number?"

She gave another shrug, "We work for the same company. I'll probably run into him again there."

"Yeah, but are you going to _see_ him again?"

The meaning behind her words was clear. But she honestly didn't even know if she would see him again. He'd sent her a text before takeoff hoping she'd have a good day, she replied wishing him safe travels. He texted her a sobbing emoji when Mace Windu ended up on his flight crew. And they exchanged a few more texts while his flight was delayed. Thinking about it rationally, the very idea of seeing him again didn't make much sense. The logistics of it were tricky at best and impossible at worst. They live in different cities, their schedules are never set and vary each month, he works as much as the company can legally allow him to work and she works the company minimum. Maintaining any relationship beyond cordial co-workers was just asking for trouble. And yet, despite that, she couldn't help but smile when she thought about their conversations. He was a bit arrogant and cocky to be sure, but he had that boy next door kind of charm that just… worked.

I don't know." Perhaps it has just been too long since she has seen anyone romantically. Maybe the lack of an intimate relationship is just skewing a simple dinner into something more… Padme shook her head. Anakin is nice and everything, but he isn't the only nice guy there is. maybe it is about time she try that dating app thing Dorme swears by.

"Hmmm…" Sola brought her cup back to her lips in a poor attempt to hide the smile on her face.

"What?"

She gave a shrug as she traced her finger around the rim of the cup, "Oh, it just sounds like when you say you don't know, you mean, 'I'm calling him once Luke is down for the night.'".

"What? No!" Padme scoffed. "You're being ridiculous! I barely even know him."

"I said you'd call him, not meet up somewhere for a one-night stand." Her lips curled up as she added, "Though, I'm not opposed to the latter."

Padme blanched as her sister laughed and reassured her she was only joking. Out of the two of them, Sola had always been the more… explorative and had taken much pleasure in teasing her when they were younger but as they grew older there were still times that teasing side came out. Padme heaved a sigh and shook her head. The patter of running children upstairs made the small hanging light over the table sway lightly and both mothers glanced up watching the light with small smiles on their faces. They heard a playful scream from one of the girls followed by giggling and a small argument over the rules of their game.

"Never a dull moment with kids," Sola remarked. And she couldn't help but agree.

* * *

By the time Padme decided it was time for her and Luke to go home, her son threw his hand back in a quick wave to his aunt and cousins before slinging his duffle bag over his shoulder and bouncing down the front steps towards the car. She shook her head as he started to pull on the still locked car door before sighing as she hit the button twice to let her son get in.

"Well, I'm glad he had such a good time," Sola said, sharing a laugh with Padme before giving her a hug goodbye.

Luke was already buckled in the backseat and the moment she started the ignition, the excited boy began telling her about his weekend and the torture of playing a bunch of girly games with his cousins. Padme listened intently as he spoke, glancing back at him through her rearview mirror. Despite how bad he made some of the games seem, she could tell that he still liked playing with his cousins. He liked to make them laugh and with him not always playing by their rules, it seemed to add an element of surprise that only added to the fun they all shared. "The entire weekend couldn't have been all bad," She said, laughing at the exaggerated way he let his head flop back on the seat.

"It wasn't," He admitted, "Aunt Sola made some cookies and in the middle of the night we all snuck down to eat them. She never found out it was us," He said, his voice dropping to a whisper.

"Well, who'd she think it was?"

"Uncle Darred," He laughed, "You should have seen the look on his face!"

Sola had mentioned that little incident earlier. She knew very well that the kids were responsible for the missing cookies. Pooja had a very hard time that morning not smiling or keeping her voice down, the telltale signs she thinks she got away with something she shouldn't have. But, instead of scolding them like any parent would, she decided to play the "Cool Aunt" and place the blame on her poor husband.

Padme made the final turn into the driveway and pulled into the garage slowly before turning the car off. Luke was the first out of the car and he opened the trunk, heaving her suitcase out and wheeling it out towards the house. Closing the garage, she walked towards the door to the house where her son was waiting for her. She smiled as she placed a kiss on his cheek, "Such a gentleman," She praised, laughing at how his face scrunched from the motherly affection.

The lock on the door jammed like it always did. Her hand on the doorknob, she pulled hard on it as she twisted the key until it clicked and the door popped in. The floorboards creaked as the two of them entered the dimly lit mudroom. Luke pulled her suitcase through the door but left almost in the middle of the room before walking through the rest of the house, not even seeming to care that no other lights were on. Padme relocked the door and set about turning the lights in the house on, wheeling her suitcase into the living room. She could see the kitchen counter through the archway and noticed the small pile of mail from the days she had been gone. Sifting through it, she checked for the check from Palo she was supposed to receive. Bill, bill, credit card advertisement, bill… still no check. He was late again. While over the years he had gotten better at providing child support, he was still far from timely. There were still times she would go three months without seeing a cent but her expectations for him were low so it wasn't all too disappointing. In truth, he really didn't need to send anything as there was no legal arrangement for child support nor did she really need his money but every month he always promised to send a check. And it always did help every now and then with expenses when she wanted to take extra time off or those few times when money was tight.

Padme left the mail on the counter, deciding to handle the rest tomorrow. Grabbing her bag, she wheeled it into her room and hoisted it on top of her bed before retreating into the master bath to change into something more comfortable. As pretty as her work uniforms were, comfort always seemed to be low on the requirements list and it was always a relief to get out of it. With a heavy sigh, she returned to her bedroom and unzipped her bag and began to unpack as she did almost every night. The routine was so ingrained in her that she didn't even have to think about it, she just did it. The uniforms she had worn were placed into a large laundry sack she would drop off at the dry cleaners, the rest of her clothes went into the laundry hamper in the bathroom, her shoes were returned to her neatly organized closet shoe rack, she checked her toiletry bag and added what she was running low on to a shopping list, and then she made her final check of her flight schedules to make sure she had her dates, times and locations correct and up to date. It wasn't often that things would be changed too much but she had learned early on that checking the company portal daily was better than finding out at the last minute that she got moved to a different flight on the other side of the airport.

Her shoulders popped lightly as she stretched. She could hear Luke down the hall in his bedroom, glass jars clanking lightly as he shifted through his large collection of paints and modeling tools. Padme slowly got to her feet and slowly pattered down the hall to see what he was up to. Peeking in, she saw his bed was no longer the pristinely made bed it had been when she left but rather a war zone of clothes thrown haphazardly all across the comforter and she couldn't even tell what was clean or dirty in the mess. On top of the mess, sat a neatly packed bag of modeling tools that had obvious signs of use. The handles had splatters of paint and little glue bubbles stuck to the fine wood.

On the other side of the room, Luke sat at the desk, his feet crossed under him as the small desk light shined down on the green model plane in his hands as he turned it in the light. "Is that the model I just got you?" Padme asked from the doorway.

He nodded and motioned for her to come closer. She smiled as she pulled up a stool and sat next to him. "It's a B-29 Superfortress," He said, his eyes never leaving the plane as his finger spun one of the four propellers. "They used them in World War II for bombing runs. Cool thing is this was one of the planes they used to model planes for commercial flights."

Padme leaned her elbow against the desk as she listened to all of the history and technical details that seemed to spill out of him faster than she could comprehend, simply taking joy from the pride he felt in his ability to retain all of the information and the excitement he felt as he reenacted some of the flight maneuvers with the model and in the back of her mind, she wished it could be like this every day.


	8. Chapter 8

**What's the best way to spend a birthday? Writing fanfics of course! Still trying out the slow build up to the Anidala goodness but it's getting there! You can see the sparks already starting to fly!**

 **Happy Reading!**

* * *

Chapter 8

Tick…

Tick…

Tick…

His leg shook as he sat on the edge of the couch, his phone sitting directly in front of him on the coffee table as he waited. The armchair to his right was occupied by the young pilot-in-training, Ahsoka. Her legs were slung over the arm of the chair as she balanced a plate of leftover pizza she was eating for dinner. Anakin hadn't planned on her stopping by but when she came knocking on his door and whining about how she didn't have any food at her place, he caved and let her heat up the leftovers in his fridge.

"You'll burn a hole through the table if you stare any harder, Skyguy," She said as she took a bite from her pizza.

"Shut up," He groaned, tapping the screen on his phone to check the time. Nine o'clock. It had been about two weeks since Seattle. They'd texted every few days just to keep in touch since he was working an awkward schedule and she wanted to spend her time with her son. This was just the first time they were both in the same timezone and they'd agreed she would call him at nine. But she hadn't yet. Should he just try and call her? No, that would look desperate, but, what if she didn't call? What if she was just running behind?

"Would you look at the smoke coming out of your ears!" Ahsoka said laughing, "It has to be a girl if it has you so strung out!"

Before he could retort, his phone started to ring and in a flash he snatched the phone from the table, fumbling with it as he tried not to hit the ignore button. "Hello? H-hey! How's it going?" Anakin mentally kicked himself as he fumbled to sound relaxed.

He heard her giggle on the other end, _"Not too bad,"_ she said. _"I just got settled at the hotel. You won't believe the day I had."_

"That bad, huh?" He asked.

" _I wouldn't say bad so much as just stressful."_ She sighed, _"Large family traveling together, parents, grandparents and six kids. From the start we kinda figured they'd be a bit loud because the two youngest were crying before they even got on. But then it turned out all their seats were scattered around the cabin and they were trying to switch seats so they could all sit together and that caused a delay with boarding and it took us three times and a threat to kick them off if they didn't sit in their designated seats."_

"I take it, it gets worse in the air?"

Padme groaned on the other end, " _You have no idea. They were some of the most ill-mannered people I've seen in a long time! The kids were throwing things, the parents yelled for us when they wanted something… I don't think I've ever seen a plane disembark as quickly as the one I was on today."_

He smiled as he heard her heave a sigh, "Well, at least it was only a regional fight. Could you imagine having those people for over six hours?"

" _I swear this flight felt like ten hours today. I'm beat! I almost wish I had an extra day or two here just to relax."_ She said, _"Take a nice long walk on the beach, swim in the ocean, and dry in the nice hot rays of the sun…"_

"It seems you and I have different ideas of relaxing," He laughed.

" _Oh? And what exactly don't you like about my idea of relaxing?"_

"Sand," He said. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Ahsoka roll her eyes, knowing exactly what he was going to say. Standing up quickly, he relocated himself to his bedroom before the young girl could say anything about his supposedly irrational dislike of sand.

" _Really?"_ Padme asked, _"You don't like sand?"_

"You never grew up in a desert. It gets everywhere! Every crack and crevice in the house, every shoe, every sock… even in bed!" As petty as it might seem, the rough and irritating substance had left a lasting negative impression on him and if he could avoid it for the rest of his life, he probably would.

" _You have a point there… but there's a lot of other nice things about a beach! The water, the salty breeze, the hot sun, fishing…"_

"I don't know…" He said, shrugging his shoulders as he sat at the edge of his bed, "I've never actually spent time on a beach."

" _If we're ever on a layover near a beach I'll have to take you then. That is, if you're not too opposed to all the sand."_

Anakin smirked as he leaned his elbow against his knee, "For you, I'd climb a mountain of sand." He heard her laugh on the other end and he cringed, "That… that didn't sound as epic as I thought it would…"

" _No,"_ She agreed, _"But it's the thought that counts, right?"_

"I suppose…"

They talked for a little bit longer, time seemingly forgotten as spoke about meaningful and meaningless things. Anakin swore he could see her reactions as he spoke, her smile, every time she probably shook her head at his jokes, her face as it scrunched when she laughed… the distance between them felt like nothing despite knowing she was really hundreds of miles away and the real distance only dawned on him when she decided it was time for her to retire for the night. And reluctantly, they said their goodbyes and hung up. Anakin flopped backward on his mattress, a wide grin on his face. How could one person be so perfect? They hadn't known one another for very long but the ease with which they talked felt like the way people who'd known each other for a lifetime spoke. It only further cemented the feeling that he was falling hard for her and with each subsequent interaction he had with her, he was starting to think she liked him too.

Rolling back to his feet and standing, he returned to the living room only to stop in his tracks when he noticed the dirty sock tied to the knob of his door. His eyes shot over to Ahsoka who was now lounging on the couch he had been sitting on earlier, her dirty plate on the coffee table and a devilish smirk on her face.

"Thought you might want the privacy," She said with a cocky shrug.

"Very funny," He deadpanned, pulling the sock off the door and throwing it at her face.

Ahsoka screamed as she ducked, narrowly avoiding the sock before he marched over to the couch and grabbed her ankles, shifting her over so he could sit next to her. "Are you going to tell me about this mystery girl?" She asked.

"No."

* * *

The sweat coating the back of his neck felt cold as a prickly breeze blew past him at a red light. Anakin slowed his run to a stop as he caught his breath. His heart raced and his legs had that tired tingling sensation from a well-balanced run. He was only a block from his apartment and as the light turned green, he started up a light jog to finish the rest of his run. Anakin had always been an extremely active individual. It had been nearly impossible to get him to sit still as a child, he always had to be doing something. He got better as he got older but he still needed an outlet for all the energy that seemed to course through his veins. So in middle school at the suggestion of one of his teachers, he joined the track team. Long runs after school and on the weekends helped him find the balance and focus he needed and eventually running just became so apart of his routine that even if he didn't want to, he still did as if on autopilot.

Pulling out of the morning sidewalk traffic when he reached his stoop, he closed his eyes as he folded his hands behind his back, breathing slowly, he stretched out his shoulders and back as his pulse returned to a resting rhythm. Moving slowly, he stretched his legs on the stone pillar at the steps before shaking out his legs and leaving the cold morning Philadelphia air behind as he went inside. He was hungry. Starting up his stove, he rummaged through his fridge, pulling out a carton of eggs, sausage links, cheese, tomato, and onion. His mouth watered as he prepared the omelet and he could barely wait to eat it once it was done, nearly burning his tongue as he took the first bite. He turned the news on just for background noise but he wasn't really paying attention to it as he scrolled through social media on his phone.

Unlike a lot of the other people he worked with, he always felt his days off were extremely dull and boring. The only person whose days off were duller was Mace Windu and he was basically a vampire. Anakin heaved a sigh as he tried to think of something interesting to do. He had to get groceries, pick up his dry cleaning, do the laundry… boring. He did have friends outside of work, but they obviously had jobs of their own. Kitster worked for some insurance company, Aayla ran some holistic medical practice, Sheev Palpatine worked for some company that everyone swore was crooked… basically, they all had things to do during the day and were it not for the company having (albeit reasonable) restrictions on flight time, he would gladly work Monday through Friday year round. But instead, his days off were more often than not in the middle of the week leaving him nothing to do but the tedious mundane everyday things to do and when those ran out, he was stuck watching crappy daytime television until five o'clock hit and he could go down to one of the local pubs and enjoy a sports game with friends or total strangers… Yes, this is exactly how he wants to spend his time.

It was times like this he was almost envious of Obi-Wan. He at least had someone and even before he met Satine, he had that weird red cat that sat in front of the TV all the time. Granted, he isn't desperate enough to get a cat, but the idea to try and build a robot to talk to has crossed his mind more than once. Anakin cleaned the remnants of his breakfast, rinsing the dishes and loading the dishwasher. He could still feel the sweat on his neck and back and now with his hunger sated, he decided a nice hot shower would work wonders on his tired muscles. Disrobing and throwing his dirty clothes in a pile by the door, he stepped under the hot water blasting from the shower head. He wished he had something like what Obi-Wan had— he wanted more than what he had. His days off could be so much more than what they are. He'd still have the typical everyday responsibilities he had to do, but there could be lunch dates, maybe after school activities if he had kids, going to restaurants for dinner, or even just staying in and enjoying each other's company. Talking or even not talking… companionship. A mutual desire for… something. Anakin didn't know. But he could see it. Waking up in the morning with someone beside him. The fuss of getting kids up and ready for school, he could make breakfast for them. Kissing Padme on the cheek before she left for work. He could drive Luke to school and pick him up. They could play video games after school, he could help with homework. And then when Padme gets home—

His eyes shot open as his hand reached out and grabbed ahold of the shower curtain as his left foot slid out from under him. He'd just barely righted himself before he realized what he had been thinking about. Padme.


	9. Chapter 9

**Bit of a short chapter, it's mostly just me trying to get characters from point A to B. Good news is the wait for Chapter 10 shouldn't be too long since it's just about halfway done.**

* * *

Chapter 9

If there is one person in the entire company that it is best to be friends with, it is the Airline Scheduling Manager. He doesn't have the power to fire anyone, and he isn't the one whose name is signed on the paychecks, but he is the one who has control over who gets what flight and determines how many hours each crew member flies each month. Mr. Yoda has been with the airline for years and some say since the very start of the company which goes back to 1922, but that's just a rumor. Funny thing is it makes sense especially when his cryptic riddles are taken into account. He is good at his job though. Seldom does he ever have to make corrections due to miscalculations of hours or conflicting schedules and to those who have made good impressions with him, he always throws in a few lucky flightpaths and layovers as a small token of his appreciation.

It is unfortunate that Anakin has never had much luck gaining that favor. A few (several) poorly chose words had led to a bad scolding from the old man when he first started flying, deservedly so, but a scolding he hadn't taken to heart in the beginning. Back then, he had been like almost every upstart pilot who thought they were on top of the world and could call the shots. He'd made several attempts to score some of the most desired routes but had been shot down by Mr. Yoda. There was a bit of a grudge between them over that for a while, and there were times Anakin swore the man still had it out for him because of his age, not that he ever said anything, of course. He now knew better than to pick a fight with Mr. Yoda.

Anakin sat at a small table in the noisy food court in the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, his laptop open, waiting for the airline crew portal to update with the schedule for next month. He had his earbuds in, having called Padme ten minutes before it was due to be updated.

"Have you got anything yet?" She asked.

Once again, he tapped the refresh button, "Still nothing," He said. "It doesn't help the Wi-Fi sucks."

"You'd think places would have faster internet given that it's practically as vital as water."

Anakin smiled, watching the loading circle spin and spin and spin. "With how much my lunch cost, I expect high-speed internet."

"I got it!" He could hear her excitement as she whispered some of the city names as she scanned her schedule.

His own had yet to load and as he hit the refresh button, the first positive sign finally showed as the screen cleared and it started to buffer. Little by little, dates, flight numbers, locations and destinations started to fill the screen. Silently, he gave one last silent prayer that their schedules had some similarities. Same flight, same airport… something. They'd talked about meeting again in person but last month there had been absolutely no time. Their schedules were too different and it just didn't work out like they had wanted.

"Okay, it's loaded," He said, skimming through it carefully. One by one, they listed the cities they were going to before comparing the flights and times. Most of their closest encounters are more like near-misses than actual times they could spend time together but there are two promising windows one near the middle of the month and one at the very end. During the week of the fifteenth, they are both in Kansas, of all places. Currently, it looks like they'll both be there by around the mid-afternoon which would mean there is enough time to do something and maybe dinner after. The end of the month looks like it will be more fun though. The last Wednesday of the month they're both in Louisiana for part of the afternoon. Padme would be getting in late on Tuesday night and he arrives very early that morning. With several hours to spare, they would have some time to kill before they both have to head back to the airport. Of course, schedules always have the potential to change throughout the month with weather and route switches between staff being the major factor, but it is at least a starting place and so long as they don't alter those flights, it should all still work out.

"Okay, I got it all marked down," She said, "So, I'll see you next month then?"

Anakin smiled, "Yeah."

"Great! I'd love to stick around and chat, but I gotta get Luke ready for school now."

"No worries, I can call you later." Hanging up his phone, he set about packing his things away and making his way towards his gate. He wasn't too thrilled it would be about twenty days before he saw Padme again. The phone calls and the texts were… nice and everything, but there was only so much they could talk about and then there was the added issue with time-zones. He had been in Australia just last week and that is like a twelve-hour difference making conversation a little tricky to figure out. It will be nice to for once be within fifty miles of her and even better to be within five feet. His mind drifted back to his day off when he started to think about being apart of her life. There was little doubt in his mind that he wanted something like that, and she was an absolutely amazing woman. But part of him feared that the distance was just making it too easy to let his mind fill in the blanks and place her on a high pedestal. He didn't want that. It places the expectations of reality too high, and impossible to achieve. It would lead to disappointment on both sides and at his very core, he knew that there was potential for something between them and the last thing he wanted was unrealistic expectations to ruin that chance. The solution was obvious, spend time together, figure out who the other is, and see where things go. The hard part was the spending time together. Neither of them was in charge of their schedules and what they could control was very limited. Nothing about what they were doing was easy, but, even she seemed to want to give things a shot, so that had to be worth it, right?

He arrived at the terminal just as the crew was given permission to board. He smiled at his crew as they walked down the gangway to the plane. At his side walked the young first officer who would be flying with him, Barriss, her name was (he thinks). He'd seen her a few times when he passed by Luminara, one of the senior captains for the airline. As far as he knew, Barriss was only recently promoted to first officer, which meant he would be paying extra close attention to her throughout the flight.

The two of them strapped in and went through pre-flight checks and waited patiently for passengers to board. After about twenty minutes, the door was locked and armed and they had been given clearance to pull back. Barriss took the controls for the first half of the flight, guiding the plane smoothly towards the runway. Takeoff was a little bumpy and the angle of the nose was sharper than it should have been but it was still well within the window of acceptability. "A little rough on the nose," Anakin said once they reached cruising altitude. "You want to ease the nose slowly unless you're fighting weather or in San Diego. If you pull up too fast you'll stall."

Barriss nodded, "Understood, sir," She said.

"And relax," He said, smiling at her, "If you're too tense you can't react fast enough. Besides, I don't bite."

The younger pilot smiled and shook her head, "Ahsoka told me you would say that."

Anakin raised a brow at her, "Say what?" He asked.

Barriss shrugged, "She kinda gave me a list of things you'd pay a lot of attention to. tenseness, reaction speed, nerves… she also said you'd try and level with me and not pull rank unless I was being an ass."

"Ah."

"She also said your jokes are terrible and you have an over-inflated ego."

"Figures," He muttered, rolling his eyes. Ahsoka always was a snippy girl and the only one who could really get away with it with him. He had known her since they were kids, grew up in the same town, she was a bit of a brat and got into trouble with older kids and so he'd taken it upon himself to look out for her. She's been like his little sister ever since and after he left, she worked her butt off so she could follow his line of work.

"In case you're wondering," Barriss said to fill the silence, "we've only been on a few dates. Nothing serious, just casual." She smiled and visibly tried to hide a laugh, "From the look on your face, I take it she never mentioned it to you."

Anakin shook his head and directed his eyes back outside. "She doesn't have to tell me everything," He said. Part of him was a bit disappointed she hadn't said anything. Even now, he liked to screen the people she hung out with and judge their character for himself. Ahsoka may hate it, but she knows he means well even if he can be a bit overbearing about it.

"When'd you get the promotion?" He asked.

"Last week. Ahsoka was a little jealous, as you could imagine. How long do you think it'll be before they bump her up?"

He gave a shrug, "I don't know. She more than deserves it though," He said. "She's worked so hard, for so many hours… I'd give it to her in a heartbeat."

"But you're biased."

Anakin laughed and rolled his shoulders, "True, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong."

"Maybe not on this," She said, "I was a bit surprised when they gave me the promotion and not her though. I was sure she was going to get it before me."

"In that case, it might not be too much longer for Ahsoka."

"Oh God, I hope so," Barriss sighed.

The rest of the flight went by without a hitch. The small regional jet caught the fastest winds and only a small patch of turbulence midway through but it arrived at the Los Angeles International Airport on time and that, as far as Anakin was concerned, meant it was a good flight.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Padme did one last look over her outfit in the women's bathroom, taking care to smooth out any creases from being packed in a suitcase to the best of her ability. For the most part, it looked alright. There were a few stubborn fold marks that took a little more water and effort to smooth out, but eventually, they faded into the floral pattern of the dress. The PA made the boarding call for the three o'clock flight to Denver followed by the usual TSA announcements that she had practically memorized. Leaning closer to the mirror, she touched up her makeup that for once was slightly more than just her usual eyeliner. A little lip gloss, some blush… nothing fancy or outrageous. Most people probably wouldn't even notice.

But, Dorme wasn't most people. The two of them had been working on the same flight and it hadn't taken the woman long to notice she had curled her hair and done up in a loose bun, the makeup, or the way she kept checking her watch throughout the flight. Every chance she had on the two-hour flight had been spent pestering her until she told her she had a date, which prompted more questions that she was even more reluctant to answer. It had been harrowing but she had to admit it was a bit of a relief to talk about it with Dorme. As nosey as she was, when it came down to it, Padme could always depend on her to be a sympathetic ear and a reassuring presence.

This would be the first time in three months that she and Anakin were meeting in person. Talking on the phone and by text was nice and he could be so funny and he made her smile… but as their date inched closer on her calendar, she knew things couldn't go on as they were forever. She wanted them to, but she also wanted more. She had been content with her life as it was for a long time but talking with Anakin had awakened a part of her that she had completely forgotten about. The romantic part of her that longed for a lifelong companion, a warm body to wake up next to, a shoulder to lean on, someone to share in the joys and woes of parenting. And as much as she likes Anakin, it just takes too much effort to keep seeing him and so, after three months it's time for her to figure out just how much she is worth to him. If they want the same thing, then that's great, she'll at least know her efforts have the potential for some positive gain. But if not, then there was no point in continuing knowing the end result would just be heartbreak and disappointment.

It had been a difficult conclusion to come to and one she was almost fearful she couldn't follow through with when the time came but she knew she had to. They had been talking about him coming up to see her or her coming down to see him at some point in the future. And that took money, and more importantly time. Time she could otherwise spend with her family and most importantly Luke. She and Anakin weren't the only people involved in… whatever this was. Regardless of their feelings, she had to put her son first.

Shaking her head and taking one last deep breath, she checked that she had corrected the time on her watch and ran through her mental checklist to make sure she had everything before she mustered the courage to put her hand on her bag and wheel it out of the bathroom and towards the food court in Terminal Two they had agreed to meet at. She tried to push her nerves about what she had to talk about him out of mind, instead wanting to enjoy their time for a little bit before she had to bring it up. But it was so difficult and she worried he would be able to see straight through to her nerves. Through the long walk, she tried to harden her expression but then softened, and then tried to take relaxing breaths. She must have looked a fool to passersby but she couldn't decide how to make herself look calm and worry-free. If she hardened her face too much, Anakin might wonder what was wrong, and relaxing was harder than it should have been as she could feel the stiffness in her body and tightness in her cheeks when she tried to smile. She had no doubt that he would notice. No doubt that the strenuous thoughts plaguing her mind would come out sooner than she would like.

Anakin stood near the entrance to the food court, his jacket absent and his tie loosened and the top button of his shirt undone. His back was pressed against a pillar with LED advertisements scrolling across the screen, his eyes scanning through the crowds looking completely obvious that he was waiting for her. In his hands, he had two coffees, one hot and one iced. His bag sat next to him, the top zipper wide open with the gold stripped cuff of his sleeve hanging out, looking as though he just stuffed the thing in the bag without a care for neatness. Padme slowed her walk, breathing heavy and noticing for the first time that she had been closer to a run than a walk. It took only a moment for their eyes to meet and the smile that graced his handsome face had the power to make the gray cloud that had been following her dissipate. The chatter of foreign languages faded and the PA went mute as she weaved her way through the crowds towards him and his smile seemed to widen.

Extending his hand with the iced coffee towards her, he passed her the drink. "Iced mocha latte?" He offered, and she couldn't help but laugh as she took the drink from him. When exactly had she told him what coffee she drank? It had to be at some point but it was just a silly thing for him to have remembered and yet the simple act spoke volumes.

"Thank you," She said, taking a small sip followed by a long gulp of the drink. She was more thirsty than she thought.

"So, I was checking with the information guy, see what there is around here to do and all, there's a few small museums on farming and Indians and stuff," He said giving a nonchalant shrug, "Not all too interesting if you ask him. But there is a large garden about an hour from here. It's by a hotel too. So I was thinking, we check-in to the hotel and then go there? Unless you'd rather do something else, of course."

Padme smiled. She'd done a bit of research on her own about the area and as far as activities in the area went, the gardens were frequently mentioned. "That sounds wonderful," She said, not missing the way he seemed to perk up before they started walking side by side down to get a cab to the hotel. They talked almost the entire way, catching up on things they hadn't had the chance to mention before, sharing pictures on their phones. It was all just so perfect. At some point during the ride, Anakin had slung his arm over her shoulder and subconsciously, she shifted closer to him as though they did this all the time. It felt so natural and so right that when they reached the hotel she didn't want to get out.

But reluctantly, she did. Checking in, their rooms were just across the hall from one another and Padme's eyes widened in surprise when Anakin opened his door just long enough to grab the "Do Not Disturb sign and hang it outside and shoving his bag through the door before closing it and turning back to her.

"What?" He asked, his brow raised in question.

"You're not going to unpack?" She asked.

"…No?"

Padme shook her head and unlike him, walked all the way inside her room, Anakin following her in but not venturing farther than the door. Lifting her bag onto the bed, she went about unpacking as she always did. Hanging her uniform, storing her heels in the closet, putting her toiletries in the bathroom… Anakin inched a little closer leaning up to peek into her suitcase before looking at her with a confused expression on his face, "How many outfits do you need?" He asked.

She gave a small shrug as she reorganized her bag, "Two uniforms, pajamas, raincoat, sweatshirt, three outfits…"

"It's seventy degrees all week!"

"I like to be prepared," She said.

He shook his head, "I normally just have clean underwear and a spare shirt and tie." He muttered. Padme smiled as she finished her routine, ignoring his doomsday prepper joke as they left the hotel and took another cab to the gardens.

* * *

They walked slowly along the brick trail that twisted and turned through the gardens. Shoulders brushing ever so slightly, they talked for a while about whatever they could. Anakin was excited about the NHL draft and gave his prediction on the top rookies and free-agents he figured had a shot. She didn't understand some of the statistics he talked about, but smiled all the same loving his enthusiasm. She told him about the latest show she'd started binging on Netflix which just happened to be a documentary series on the justice system. That topic had sparked some of his more radical ideas about crime and punishment, which shocked her but nevertheless intrigued her because his sentiments came from a life experience she could not relate to at all. His words were genuine but at the same time, confident that one day someone would come around who can fix the system.

As the sun started to set, they found a small patch of grass by a pond and sat to watch as the sky burned bright overhead. The silence and the calm brought back thoughts of the words she had to have with Anakin. Part of her wanted to just blurt it out and get it over with— rip it off like a band-aid and be done with it however that may be. But the more fearful part of her longed to draw it out and came up with excuses to delay in talking with him. The gardens were too beautiful to taint with a serious conversation that very well might end badly. She could easily talk about it with him on the phone once they went back home. What does being in person change about the result? It's a yes or no, something that could easily be done later. The conflicting thoughts were driving her crazy! She wanted to know what this was to him, but at the same time, she dreaded his answer. Padme took a deep breath to try and calm herself as she kept her gaze focused intently on the horizon.

"Something bothering you?"

She nearly jumped at his question as she turned her head to face him. Anakin was leaning back on a forearm as he watched her with a furrow in his brow. She gave him a tight smile, trying to play it off as just being jet lagged. "Nothing," She said. His brow raised skeptically at her and immediately she felt herself crash under the weight of the worry in her head. "Okay! What exactly is this to you?" She asked, a bit more blunt than the tactful way she had hoped to ask him.

"What?"

"This," She sighed, holding her arms out for emphasis, "Us. What-what… I don't know what you want, but I know what I want— what I _need_." Her eyes closed as she took another deep breath, "I like you, Anakin. More than… I've liked anyone in a long time. I… I need to know where you see this going because… it's more than just me having a son. It's that I need to know that I'm not deluding myself in thinking that there's… _something_." Padme held his gaze as he stared at her, his eyes wide in surprise at the depth of her words. She was certain he could see how nervous she was, but she couldn't see much in his expression besides surprise. He hadn't been expecting it. He didn't know how to answer. Immediately, her mind started to plan escape routes, ways to excuse herself, and trying to remember the way back to the main building where she could call a cab to pick her up.

Anakin shifted his body to face her as he started to recover from his shock, his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed and placed his hand over hers. "Padme…" He started, "I…" She shifted uncomfortably as she prepared for the inevitable truth to come out. She opened the door for too much, too fast and now it was going to be slammed in her face and all she could do was brace herself for it. "I don't know what to say," He said, heaving a heavy sigh. "I… I don't know what it is between us, but… I want to find out," He said, smiling as he said the same thing he'd said in Seattle. "I feel —and I know this sounds crazy— but, I feel like there's this connection between us. And something just tells me that however it ends, it's worth getting there to see it, you know?" He gave a shrug as he leaned forward, resting an elbow on his knee, "I know meeting all the time like this is insane and impractical in so many ways and honestly, I probably would have given up by now. But I don't want to."

"Neither do I," Padme said, feeling herself lean closer to him and watching as he did too. His hand came up to her cheek, stroking the bone lightly as he helped to guide her closer to him until she felt the light touch of his lips on hers. He made no move to deepen the kiss, waiting for her permission to seek more, permission she was glad to give him.


	11. Chapter 11

**I feel like I've gotten to the point where I either A: rush through the story or B: give up and move on... REALLY trying to break that habit lol!**

 **Happy Reading!**

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Chapter 11

Padme couldn't remember the last time she had been kissed by someone. In the first few years after separating from Palo she'd had a few meaningless flings but even in the the relationships she had been invested in, none of them had been quite so… wonderful. Her eyes drifted shut as their lips moved against one another and she brought her hand to his shoulder, pulling the fabric of his shirt tightly and holding him close to her. Encouraged by her actions, Anakin deepened their kiss, pulling a small moan from her lips that shocked her enough that she slowly pulled back.

Anakin smiled at her not in a lustful way or the smug smile he wore when he was pleased with himself, but one that simply shown with contentment. His thumb traced lightly over her cheek, as if confirming she was real and that what happened wasn't a dream. "I've wanted to do that for a long time," He admitted, his smile widening into a grin.

"Really?"

He nodded, leaning closer to her again and resting his forehead against hers, careful not to make any assumptions and his eyes seeking permission once more. She didn't pull away and he slowly leaned in, kissing her lips lightly again, and again, before kissing her deeply once more. Padme smiled against his lips as she returned his affections, taking his face in her hands before pulling back. They held each other's gaze as they simply sat contently with one another.

His actions had spoken volumes for what he hoped for and she wanted the same— or at least to try. But he hadn't actually said it, or at least not in the blunt confirmation she needed. "So…" She sighed.

"So…" He repeated, his head tilting to the side, his nose rubbing humorously against hers.

"Does this mean that… we're together?" Padme drew her lip between her teeth nervously even though she knew there was no reason for her to be nervous.

Anakin nodded his head, "Yeah… We are… I mean, only if you want to."

She laughed and shook her head. Isn't that what she'd been trying to tell him? "Yes, Anakin," She said, chastely kissing his lips just because she could, "I do."

The smile that graced his face made her heart skip a beat as both of them visibly seemed to relax as they scooted closer to each other. Her head rested against his shoulder as he leaned back on his elbows to watch the rest of the sun set. Dark blue already covered half the sky having missed most of it but there was still one last large stripe of orange that fought to stay. The lights in the gardens had started to slowly turn on and chorus of birds had now been replaced by the calming songs of the grasshoppers.

Padme fought back a yawn when the sun finally disappeared from their sight. She didn't want to leave. Leaving meant that this perfect moment was over. It meant that they only had a few hours left before they would part again. But, reluctantly, they both conceded and decided to return to the hotel. Few words were spoken, but no words were really needed as their hands remained firmly clasped together, revealing in what felt like the honeymoon phase she went through in high school with her first real boyfriend. It was silly, and girlish, and completely ridiculous for two grown adults but it just felt so, so good and freeing that she just gave in to those feelings.

Anakin walked with her down the hall to her room, their pace slow and reluctant. Neither wanted to part knowing that tomorrow they would both go to different parts of the country. They stood outside her door, their hands still joined as Anakin traced his thumb along the back of her fingers. "I'll see you in the morning then?" She asked.

His expression fell as a knit formed in his brow, "I don't think so," He sighed, "My flight got moved up so now I'm on the first flight out of here. I leave even before they start serving breakfast." Her eyes started to fall away from him but were immediately called back as he continued, "But maybe I can take some time off? Come up to Boston and see you?"

Padme stepped closer to him, her arms wrapping around his neck "I'd like that," She said, kissing his lips lightly before reluctantly opening her door and bidding him goodnight.

* * *

Anakin barely had barely slept the night before. Several times he'd woken up and felt the need to pinch himself because he just couldn't believe the perfect night he'd had with Padme. She wanted to be with him. They're together— he has a _girlfriend_! There had only been one other time he'd been so giddy with excitement and that had been the first girlfriend he'd ever had in high school. Aayla Secura smartest bad-ass girls he knew at the time and when he first asked her out he had been sure she would turn him down in favor of spending time with her friends on the Lacrosse team. He'd been wrong. And when he asked if they were together, he swore his jaw had fallen and hit the floor before slamming back up and knocking him through the roof. But with Padme it felt like so much more. He was floating among the stars and he could feel himself being pulled into her orbit as if this was exactly where he was meant to be.

The sun hadn't even started to rise by the time he had to check out. Crickets still chirped and the taxi he had called looked thoroughly pissed at having to work this early. His phone vibrated in his pocket as the taxi pulled into the airport drop-off zone.

"Have a nice flight! ;)" Padme had texted.

He smiled, quickly typing out his own reply, "You too Angel," He said with an emoji blowing a kiss, "I'll try and work out some time to come up to Boston when I get home." _Try_ being the optimum word.

* * *

"Switch with me."

"No!"

"Switch with me."

"No!"

"Please?"

"Oh, for God's sake, Anakin!" Obi-Wan sighed as he slouched in the booth they were seated at. The bar was moderately filled with light jazz music playing over the speakers. It was one of the older man's favorite bars to visit when he passed through Philadelphia. Anakin could never figure out why, the drinks were cheap and the company was on the shadier side but Obi-Wan never seemed to mind and in fact seemed to actively search for similar places in cities he frequented often. Anakin always thought it was odd that this nearly classical prim and proper guy who talked and walked like he was straight out of Downton Abbey was attracted to the seediest bars. But he tried not to think about it, instead hoping that he could use it to his advantage to get a tiny favor from his friend.

It didn't work.

"Please!" Anakin practically begged, "Padme's on that flight and I really, _really_ want to surprise her!"

"It's a two hour flight."

"Exactly! What even is two hours of work?"

"What exactly is two hours with your girlfriend?" Obi-Wan countered. "You'll talk to her for maybe an hour or two before you board, then it's two hours in a cockpit. _Maybe_ you'll have a quick ten minutes— tops— conversation if you take a bathroom break, but that's it!"

Anakin gave a shrug, "It's still something."

The older man sighed and shook his head, "Look, I understand, truly, I do. If it was the last flight of the day, or there was some significant gap between her next flight, I would do it gladly for you. This just isn't your best idea." Obi-Wan gave him a sympathetic smile and ordered them another round of drinks. "You see her again at the end of the month," He reminded him.

Anakin groaned, "But two weeks feels like such a long time!" He whined, "I'm in agony!"

"And now I'm wondering what she even sees in you," He joked, his brow raised in disbelief at how childish this grown man could be. His phone started to buzz as a call came through. Obi-Wan answered, whispering quietly as he spoke to the person on the other end.

Turning his head away, Anakin tried to give his friend some privacy. He saw the caller ID and knew it was Satine on the other end. The two of them were getting married next year and he couldn't be happier for them. But what made the news bitter sweet was learning that Obi-Wan was leaving the airline. No official date had been chosen yet, but supposedly it would not long after the wedding as it meant a nice company discount for wherever the two lovebirds decided to honeymoon.

"Sorry," Obi-Wan said after ending the call, "Now, what was I saying?" He pursed his lips as he shifted back to their conversation.

"… You were telling me spontaneity livens up a relationship and that you're more than happy to trade shifts with me?" Anakin tried.

He dead-paned, "Seriously? No. Look, just be patient. And who knows, maybe she'll be the one to surprise you."

"She has a kid!" He argued, "If it's between me and him for her time, he's going to win every time. He has to." He would, Anakin was sure of that. He wasn't angry about it either and was something he was completely prepared for. Having been raised by a single mother, he knew better than most the intricacies of that kind of dependance. Luke depend on his mother to be a bread winner, guidance and support, while she in turn depended on him to ground her and give her little peaceful moments of happiness that kept her fighting. If anyone should be doing the surprising, logically, it should be Anakin as she had enough on her plate.

"All relationships are a balancing act," Obi-Wan said with a shrug, "Regardless of her motherly responsibilities, she clearly feels there is a place for you in her life and so that means she'll find time for you outside of work." He didn't like how that sounded but he was sure Obi-Wan was wrong. He didn't understand, he barely even knew her. Despite not switching flights as he had originally wanted, he was determined to surprise her.


	12. Chapter 12

**I know it's been some time since I updated anything... sorry about that! University and a lack of inspiration have that unfortunate side effect. But I FINALLY have something! Hope this was worth the wait!**

 **Happy Reading!**

* * *

Chapter 12

Of all the terrible things that could possibly happen at any possible moment, a dead phone is the absolute worst. Anakin grumbled as he sat in the phone store, waiting for one of the supposed phone "experts" to tell him how much money they wanted from him to most likely fix a very, very tiny component that for some reason the phone ceases to work without. It is ridiculous! A scam! But one that everyone concludes is an evil they can live with so long as they get Netflix bundled in or whatever. Anakin glanced at his watch and heaved a sigh as he resisted banging his head against the wall behind him. He's been waiting for thirty minutes! It took an hour for them to actually talk to him, fifteen minutes for him to cough up the support fee and take his phone, and now thirty minutes for them to figure out what is wrong. He'd already explained that he needs the phone for work, but little help that did. He'd hoped sitting in the store would have them hurry up to get rid of him, but also didn't seem to work.

He was bored. No phone to scroll through Facebook, or message friends. He couldn't catch up on shows he'd missed… all he could do was watch the few customers in the store shopping for phones that weren't iPhones. One family looked to be getting a phone for their young daughter. She was obviously immediately attracted to the smartphones, but her parents were pushing her towards the simple flip phones since what does a kid that age need a smartphone for? She probably already has some tablet of sorts at home anyway. An older man was on the other side of the store talking to an employee. By the looks of it, he was trying to figure out FaceTime most likely so he could talk to his grandkids. The employee was visibly stressed, and trying to explain the functions simply but it didn't seem to be going over very well.

The door to the back room opened and out came the man who had taken his phone back to figure out the problem. Anakin was already on his feet walking to meet him at the counter, making no attempt to hide his frustration. "Well?" He asked.

The man smiled kindly at him, "I'm afraid there is some internal damage that is not easy to fix," He said.

"Great, and how much is that going to cost me?" He grumbled.

"Total cost is actually worth more than the phone itself. It is my recommendation that you buy a new phone entirely. We can save all the data on the SD card and I can even offer you a discount if you buy a new phone today!" Anakin barely heard the man besides his blatant 'money, money, money' talk. "We don't actually have this particular phone in stock, but we do have the newer phone which costs ' _money, money money,_ ' I can offer it to you for ' _money, money, money._ " Anakin sighed as he reluctantly took the deal knowing it is a ripoff but acknowledging that he has little choice at the moment. He needs his phone for work and this is all he can do for the moment. Pulling out his wallet, he pays for the new phone and resigns himself to spending the rest of his night setting up the damn thing.

His new phone safely packed inside its box and the store's bag, Anakin thanks the employee with a tight smile and leaves, walking the six blocks back to his apartment. He makes a mental note that he needs to find a better carrier but doubts that will ever happen as it seems to be a note that he always forgets until he needs to actually go in and talk to them. Maybe this time he'll remember.

Turning the final corner, he sighed as he finally made it to his street. The entire block was apartments that all looked more or less the same save for the only slight differences in color of the bricks they were made of. As he drew closer to his apartment, his eyes squinted, for a second wondering if he had made a wrong turn or if his eyes were deceiving him. The street sign was correct, the building numbers were also right, but the woman seated on the stone banister of his apartment building was… impossible.

"Padme?"

The woman looked up from her phone, and Anakin was in absolute shock.

She smiled as she tucked her phone away into her pocket, "I've been trying to call you for over an hour!" She said, hopping down from the railing and embracing him in a hug.

He returned it, perhaps a little tighter than was comfortable but he just couldn't believe it. She was here! "What are you doing here?" He asked, pulling back but his hands never leaving her waist.

She gave a shrug, her hands running up and down his arms, "I wanted to see you," She blushed.

He smiled and shook his head, still in mild disbelief. Slowly he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, "I've missed you," He whispered. "But if I'd known you were coming, I would have worn more than just my lazy jeans." He looked down at himself, slightly embarrassed by the ragged appearance of his clothes. There were two holes in the bottom of the slightly too-tight v-neck white shirt he was wearing and the hem of his jeans were almost shredded and the color faded showing all the signs of wear. But Padme didn't seem to mind, in fact, she seemed to almost… like it. She waved off his concern, jokingly telling him how glad she is that he actually has clothes besides his uniform. Inviting her inside, the two of them climbed the steps together, Anakin taking her suitcase in one hand and wrapping his arm around her shoulders with the other as she wrapped her arm around his waist.

His mind was a swirl as he mentally tried to picture his apartment. Had he been given more time he would have put effort into making it presentable. His dirty dishes from lunch were still in the sink and he'd left a can of soda and a pile of old magazines on the coffee table in front of the TV. He'd also neglected to do his laundry as the unexpected dead phone issue had taken longer than he'd hoped. Anakin scratched the back of his neck awkwardly as he led her inside and placed the bag with his new phone on a small table by the door and started to pick up some of the stuff on the coffee table in front of the TV. "How exactly did you find where I lived?" He asked as he started to stack the magazines.

"Sabe told me," She said as she looked at some of his photos hanging on the wall.

"Sabe?" He asked, raising his brow as he tried to remember who Sabe even was. The name sounded familiar but the face was a blur.

Padme gave a shrug, "Yeah, she said she slept over here once but you weren't around so…" She waved her hand around in a confused manner before waving it off. "I was skeptical at first but your name _is_ on the doorbell so…"

He rolled his head back as he started to understand how the pieces started to fit together. "Ahsoka," He said tiredly with a shake of his head.

She scrunched her nose, "Who?" She asked.

"Oh just some hotshot up-and-coming pilot," He said, "Lives a floor above and has a tendency of showing up when she's least wanted." Anakin bit his lip trying to keep himself from smiling at the way her eyes seemed to narrow at him. "Yeah, she must have let herself and Sabe in. My guess is she didn't have any food and didn't feel like going out to get her own groceries like a normal person."

"Oh." He could almost feel her jealousy and it took everything for him not to start laughing at the absurdity. "So, she has a _key_ to your place?"

He chuckled as he walked over to her, "You're cute when you're jealous," He said.

"I'm not jealous," She snorted, tilting her head away from him.

He just laughed again, and pressed a kiss to her temple, "She's basically like my sister," he said to soothe her as he walked to the front door where he placed the knotted garbage bag for him to take out later.

"Oh," She said, her tone and face immediately shifting to surprise. "I didn't know you had—"

"—She's _like_ my sister. She's not _really_ my sister," He said. "She's kinda been glued to me since high school." Anakin gave a shrug as he made his way into the kitchen. "Uh, I was going to make dinner— pasta— unless you—?"

"That sounds nice," Anakin smiled as he turned to get out the pans and noodles out of the cabinets. "So, Ahsoka is also a pilot? I don't think I'm familiar with the name."

"Then you've probably never flown with Plo Koon before."

"I've heard of him," She said, "Older man, voice a bit gravelly, one of those grandfatherly type of guys."

"That's the guy," Anakin said with a snap of his fingers, "Anyways, after she got out of flight school and got hired, the schedule basically threw her on his crew for a solid two weeks or so and I swear the guy never shuts up about her! He talks about her almost as often as he talks about his kids!"

"You have to be exaggerating—"

"Oh, I wish I was, but you've never been stuck in a cockpit for eight-hours with the guy!" He said, sighing heavily as he dropped the noodles in the boiling water. Anakin turned around and leaned his hip against the counter. He really should dust more. He could only imagine the layer of dust that was probably covering the top of the picture frames on the shelf Padme was currently looking at.

Her head turned back to him and he flashed her a smile before she turned back to the photo in front of her. "You were really skinny in this photo," She said, looking back at him again.

Anakin arched his eyebrow in curiosity as he made his way across the room to take a look at the particular picture she was referring to. It was the team photo from his high school track team. Being one of the taller team members, he stood in the back of the photo. Everyone wore the red and black reversible sleeveless jerseys and the loose-fitting running shorts as they all smiled at the camera for the yearbook. His hair had been cropped tightly around his head which did little to distract from his narrow frame but being a track photo, his build was pretty much the same as everyone else in the photo. "Not too surprising when you're running five miles every day," He said.

Padme scrunched her nose and shook her head, "I barely made it through those mile runs my gym teachers made us do every year," She said, "And somehow they _always_ ended up being on the hottest day of the year. I have no idea how you managed to run five miles in that Arizona heat."

"Practice," He said with a cocky shrug, "And if you live in the state long enough, you barely even notice the heat,"

He winked at her before turning to make his way back to the kitchen to finish cooking dinner, smiling when he heard her mutter "I doubt that."

Cooking was not one of Anakin's strengths. While his food isn't absolutely terrible, it still defiantly has the distinct bland taste of something out of a box— which is exactly what it is. True, it served its purpose of providing a quick and easy meal for the days he was home and in the mood for a simple meal but every once in a while there are days where he wishes he were more culinarily skilled like his mother. Those are typically the days he willingly admits to feeling a little homesick but in this particular case, he just wants to impress the beautiful woman who was helping to set the table for two.

Anakin served the plates straight from the pot, filling both plates with the fresh noodles and covering them in a generous layer of red tomato sauce before returning the pans to the counter so as not to clutter the table. And almost immediately after they had both sat down to eat, they started talking casually. She told him more about Luke and how pasta is his absolute favorite food— well, that and ice cream. And he told her more about Ahsoka and how she's a bit of an adrenaline junkie at times, and how she dreams about going skydiving and how it feels like he always has to be the one to talk her out of doing something stupid.

"Wow, you really _are_ like her big brother!" Padme laughed. "And how ironic that you are talking her out of doing something stupid," She remarked, referencing his story about how he tricked Obi-Wan into going whitewater rafting in Colorado.

He frowned as his eyes narrowed slightly, "There's a difference between being reckless and stupid," He argued.

"Oh really?"

"Yes!"

Padme pursed her lips skeptically, "Well, in the end, it's her choice—"

"Not if I have any say. There's no way I'm letting her do something she knows nothing about."

"Oh she has to know something about it if she keeps talking about it," She argued.

"Not you too!" He groaned, "It's bad enough her friends are encouraging her—"

"Oh, I'm not encouraging. But while I'm not very fond of the idea, I do think it's… less stupid than you think it is, especially given how many people actually do end up being able to do it more than once."

Anakin scoffed, "Yeah, but just watch her be that one that doesn't! I mean, would you let Luke jump out of a plane if he wanted to?"

"Absolutely not!" She said immediately.

"It's too dangerous, right?"

Padme paused, her eyes visibly searching for words and slowly he started to smile. She sighed, "Still," She said stretching the word out, "While I would never let my ten-year-old son do that, I have every confidence that a fully grown woman is able to make her own decision on the subject."

He waved off her answer, slouching back in his seat, letting the subject drop as the topic shifted away from his surrogate sister as they finished their dinner. Every little thing about this day just felt so… domestic. Once they had finished eating, he rinsed off the dishes while she loaded them before they settled in the living room to watch something on the TV. He wasn't even watching, too focused on Padme, her legs curled on the couch as she leaned her head against his chest, her arm wrapped around his waist while his was slung over the back of the couch. Anakin smiled down at her, kissing her head and inhaling the scent of her deeply. The simplicity and the natural way they just fit together made his chest ache in a way he has never felt before. "I can't believe you're here," He whispered, shaking his head almost in disbelief.

"Well, we have to meet in more places than just where our jobs take us, right? I mean, they're nice and everything, but the way they happen just makes it all feel…" She craned her head up to look at him, as her fingers played with his shirt. "Fleeting," She said, "Or… or like it's some dream-like world far from the grasp of reality… and that's not really what we want, right?"

"No," Anakin said, smiling broadly at her, "No, that's not what we want," He agreed, shifting, and pulling her closer to him as she snuggled up against him. "And I am so, so glad that you're here… I guess next time it's going to be my turn to visit you in Boston, right?"

Padme bit her lip, "I don't know… I still haven't talked to Luke about things yet…"

"You don't have to tell him just yet if you're not ready."

She shook her head, "It's not _just_ about us… I…I don't even know what he thinks about me dating."

His brow furrowed as his head tilted in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Untangling herself from him, she sat up and leaned her side against the couch, "It's just been the two of us for so long… The last thing I want is to do something that hurts him."

"He won't get hurt," Anakin said, "It might be an adjustment, but he wants you to be happy."

"I know," She sighed, running a hand through her hair, "There's just so much that could go wrong… I don't want him not to like you, but I also don't want him to get his hopes up or crush them."

Anakin understood what she was thinking all too well. His gaze turned back to the TV though he wasn't really watching the program. "My mom raised me all alone. Never even looked at another man for over eighteen years. I always assumed she was happy. She never complained, and she always had a smile on around me. It was only after she met Cliegg, her husband, that I saw her _really_ happy. Part of me wonders if she didn't date all those years because of me. And I know I can't ask her because she'll just deny it. All I know is that he makes her happy."

Without warning, he felt her hands cup his cheeks, and turn him towards her and pressed her lips against his in a fierce kiss. Anakin smiled into the kiss, his hands settling on her lips as he slumped down into the couch. "What did I do to deserve you?" She asked, pulling apart only long enough to get the words out, before kissing him once again. He had no complaints.


	13. Chapter 13

**In truth I should be working on my final project for the semester... but I got this sudden spark for writing again and there was no way I was going to let it get away after escaping me for the weeks where I actually had time to write! Hopefully next semester my muse decides to hit me at more convenient times.**

 **Anyway,**

 **Happy Reading!**

* * *

Chapter 13

"But Mom! All my friends are going! It's supposed to be the biggest fair to ever come to the city in ages!" Luke whined as he dramatically melted into the couch, so in awe of the scale he and his friends seemed to exaggerate. She knew it was a big deal for him. She remembered seeing the flyer for it a few weeks ago when he came running home waving it around in his hand as he told her all about it, and how could she possibly say no when he smiled like that?

But going tonight on the opening night when they already had plans, was out of the question. Ignoring his whining, she pulled out the potato salad she had promised to make and grimaced as she poured it out of its store-bought container into a large Tupperware. She had little doubt that everyone probably knew it wasn't homemade, putting it one of her own tubs was just a little thing that made it feel like it wasn't so obvious.

"We talked about this last week," Padme sighed, "It's your aunt's birthday, don't you want to spend a nice evening with your family? Besides, I promised I'd take you on the weekend."

He groaned, "But everyone else is going tonight!"

"I'm sure there are others not going tonight."

Luke shook his head, "Oh, I'm certain. I'll be the only one who didn't go. It's not fair!" With dramatic flair, he slouched back on the couch, crossing his arms over his chest as if him pouting would change anything. Unfortunately for him, she was raising him to be better than how he was acting now.

"Alright, it's time to go, get in the car," She ordered, giving him a nod towards the door. Luke pretended he hadn't heard her. Typical. With a sigh, she picked up her purse and the Tupperware and came to stand directly in front of him. "Luke," She prompted, "Get in the car. Or do you want me to go to the party alone and have to explain to everyone why you're not there?" She could barely hear him mumble a short 'I don't care,' but she knew how to get him to care. "Fine," she said with a shrug, turning and walking towards the door. "I'll go alone. But don't expect to go to the fair at all then." She knew her words had his head lifting towards her even though her back was to him. She opened, the door, stepped outside and by the time she finished placing the salad in the front passenger seat, she heard the front door slam shut followed by the angry stomps of her son as he climbed silently into the backseat, keeping his arms crossed tightly over his chest.

Padme felt the corner of her lip curl in a small smirk of victory as she went back to lock up the house before getting in the car to drive them to her parent's home. It was times like this where she really felt like she had parenting under control and yet it was also these moments when she clearly heard her mother tell her 'sweetheart, that's when they _really_ find a way to throw you a new one.' And so far, those words have always proven to be accurate. After Luke was born, it was a much larger adjustment that she thought it would be. Nursing was uncomfortable, she was barely sleeping because of late night feedings and diaper changes… and by the time she was starting to get used to it, Palo had all but left, and she noticed Luke slowly developing a little personality and growing faster and it wasn't long until he started to crawl which soon turned to running, and turning her home upside down. But over the years he calmed down, especially once he started school and made close friends. Things have been so calm but every now and then she can't help but wonder if this simple peace, was just the calm before a large storm, especially now that he's ten and it is only a matter of a few short years before he is a teenager.

Most of the family had already gathered at her parent's home by the time she parked along the curb next to the house. Despite Luke's sour mood, he gave a tight-lipped smile as his grandmother zealously kissed his cheeks and gifted him a kingsize bar of his favorite candy before sending him back to the yard where his cousins were playing with their grandfather. Padme brushed her fingers through his hair as he jogged past her, and smiled as she watched him go, his mood already seeming to brighten though she knew he was still greatly disappointed at not spending the day with his friends instead.

"Padme," Her mom whispered as the two women embraced. "Sola was rather driven to meet you out here herself," She started, "But I'm not letting her push herself too much, not while she's under _my_ roof." Over the past month, her sister's pregnancy had been getting so much harder as the due date neared. Back pain, a jumpy baby, and cravings for food she isn't allowed to have… it has been rough and every day she seems to grow more and more impatient.

Padme smiled as she followed her mother through the house to the backyard. "Padme!" Seated in one of the deckchairs by the glass table, was her sister, surrounded by a pile of crinkly-wrapped packages and wearing one of her daughter's princess tiaras. Slowly, she started to try and rise, and Padme quickly walked over to meet her so she wouldn't have to go too far on her feet. "I am so ready for this baby to pop!" She said through gritted teeth, and Padme couldn't help but agree. She was so _big!_

"Happy birthday, Sola," She said, giving her a tight hug before helping her to sit and taking the seat next to her while their mother took the seat on Sola's other side.

"Today has just been so wonderful so far!" She said. "Darred and his little sous chefs treated me to breakfast in bed, he gave me a nice foot massage…" She said with a languid smile, "now all he needs is a vasectomy so he doesn't do this to me again!" She laughed, not meaning a word of what she said, making all three of them laugh. "But, enough about me," She said, leaning forward as best she could. "I think mom and I are both more interested in the _real_ reason your flight was delayed."

Padme bit her lip and looked between her two interrogators, both giving her knowing smiles. "It's not what you think—"

"That you went to hook-up with this mysterious co-worker of yours we still know nothing about?" Sola said, nodding her head, "I could tell you were nervous when you called mom to pick up Luke and watch him for a bit. So I checked the weather," She shrugged, "it might have been raining here, but it was just cloudy in Philly. Nowhere near the torrential downpour you claimed it was."

Her nostrils flared as she exhaled audibly, "It wasn't a hookup," She argued. "We just had dinner at his place and watched a movie."

"Which is normally followed by sex."

"That didn't happen," Padme said.

"But you wanted it to, right?" Sola probed. "You wanted him to whisk you off your feet and give you the ride of your life."

Her eyes widened as she felt her cheeks heat up and her eyes darted between her mother sitting across from her. Sola's words seemed to make the older woman a bit uncomfortable and predictably, she excused herself to join the innocence of the grandchildren in the yard.

"You wanted it," Sola said again, smugly folding her arms in front of her.

"That's not what I want," Padme argued.

"No," She agreed. "You want a relationship. And I think it's safe to say that you _do_ have something like that with this guy, right?"

Her silence was just as incriminating as a full confession and her sister ran with it, asking every possible question she could about him, none of which she wanted to answer. She and Anakin had only just started talking about moving forward with their relationship. She wanted to slowly introduce him to Luke, and he seemed okay with the idea. But that's all it was right now. An idea. There was no solid plan in place, there wasn't even a rudimentary plan yet. Padme glanced towards the yard where her father was teaching Luke how to pitch a baseball. In an ideal world, she could see Anakin doing those things with Luke. She could see him teaching Luke how to play hockey, the three of them playing in the yard, his infectious smile and his arm wrapped low around her waist while he holds Luke's hand.

It is a dream of a future that brings her more happiness than she thought possible but it is also one that terrifies her. She and Anakin are nowhere near ready for that step. And there are just so many things that could go wrong between now and then but try as she might to try and distance herself from that dream so she can view it rationally, the clarity of it all is just too tempting not to get lost in the thought when she thinks about it.

"I think I love him," She said, shaking her head slowly, "It's crazy and irrational—"

"Most love is."

Padme turned back to face her sister, "I just— I don't— how would you do this?" She asked, "If you didn't have Darred, how would you introduce someone to your kids?"

The smile on her sister's face dropped as she seriously started to think about it. As much of a jokester she is, Sola knew when to be serious (most of the time) and right now, she wasn't her teasing sister always looking for a juicy piece of gossip to hold over her head. She is her wiser older sister who she could always trust to answer all the questions she was too afraid or embarrassed to ask their parents about. Padme bit her lip and watched her sister glance at her girls in the yard. Her eyes started to glisten as she seemed to lose herself in thought for a moment. It wasn't an easy answer she was looking for and for once, maybe Sola didn't have anything more than just a few supportive and sympathetic words for her. But those would do little to help Padme figure out how to make things work out the way she wanted them to and as unlikely as it was, she wanted Sola to just hand her a list of every step she needs to take— something the small stack of books on her nightstand seemed to always be missing.

Sola heaved a large breath as her hand ran soothing circles over her enlarged abdomen, "Don't introduce him as your boyfriend just yet," She said, "At least not to Luke yet… maybe… find a way for the two of them to know one another. And then…" She gave a small shrug as she turned back to face her, "I don't know," She said, "I think you have to go with your gut on this one, sis… Kids can be a real damper on romance and it is a constant juggling act."

"I know, and he's been so good at understanding that but… I don't want it to be as much of a back-and-forth thing as it's been."

"You want stability," Sola said with a smile, "Problem is he lives six hours away and anything you do risks upsetting the stability you've established with Luke."

And that has always been the problem. The last thing she wanted to do was make Luke feel like she wasn't making him her priority. But she also didn't want Anakin to feel like he came second to Luke. And while he is understanding, part of her worries he will grow tired of being okay with her sometimes not being able to join him because of Luke. Sometimes she thinks she would have been better off if she'd just declined his first invite to dinner but… he makes her feel something she hasn't felt in a long time. She feels desirable, she feels more a woman than a mother, it makes her happier than she's been in a long time. Padme sighed tiredly a little disappointed by her sister's less than detailed answer but fully understanding that what she was asking wasn't easy to answer. When most people think about dating, there aren't any kids involved. And when they are, most people think it all works out just fine in the end because those are the only stories that will be on TV or in novels. Seldom do they talk about the millions of times and ways that don't end with a 'happily ever after'. But whether her story is one that has a happy ending or not, she will never know unless she tries.


	14. Chapter 14

**You're probably wondering why it took me so long to write this one... the answer is I have absolutely no clue! I'm HOPING I can be inspired to work more on this story in the near future, but if the length between the last chapter and this one is any indicator, you might have better luck waiting for the next ASOIAF book (kidding! (hopefully))**

 **Either way,**

 **Happy Reading!**

* * *

Chapter 14

The last time she had been to New Orleans had been around Mardi Gras a few years back. Dorme, Yane, and Eirtae had all decided to drag her all around the French Quarter with every intention of giving her what they thought was a well deserved break from the pressure of the real world. Her memory of that night was a little hazy, save for headache much too vivid memories of spending the following morning huddled over the toilet. But through the haze she does remember dancing with a few guys, laughing, and a general feeling of release as her worries faded for those few short hours. Her evening with Anakin was going a little different than that. The place he'd selected checked every box on the what to do in New Orleans list; fresh seafood, fancy cocktails, a live jazz band, and less than a block south of Bourbon Street. But if she was being honest with herself, she didn't really care about that. They could have just stayed in the airport for all she cared, so long as they could talk like they have been doing all night. At first they talked about the usual things. He asked about her sister and how she was feeling being so close to giving birth. He asked about Luke and told her that Luke should be fine with her dating. She asked him about his mother and if the rumors about Obi-Wan leaving were true. But evidently those topics were quickly abandoned in favor of more interesting things.

It turns out neither of them are really into jazz music. Country music is… okay, but if you listen to enough of it you eventually have the urge to buy a pickup truck and poppin' a cold one down by the creek. They of course have their differences, Anakin preferring more of the classic rock of the 80's with a dash of some big hits from his mother's youth, while Padme has more of an… eclectic taste with everything ranging from early pop to classical orchestral pieces. Luke can't stand it when she gets in a Tchaikovsky loop, and it seems Anakin is mostly clueless about who that even is! And based on the list of musicians he likes, she can just picture the look on his face if she were to pull up one of her playlists and make him listen to it.

As the dinner crowed soon started to dwindle and the atmosphere shifted more towards the nightlife, the two of them left and casually strolled along the brightly lit streets of the city. Hand in hand, they let the laidback mood of the city simply drift them along down the streets. Music blared out of almost every building and the occasional street band left almost no space devoid of some melodic tune. "You know, I used to want to be a drummer," Anakin said as they passed by another live music venue. The drummer in the live band playing nodded his head to the beat of the song as he fancily twirled the drumsticks in his hands between each hit. Anakin smiled as they peeked their heads in to catch a glimpse of the band for a few moments.

"You told me you always wanted to be a pilot," She said, raising a brow at him.

"Well, yeah," He shrugged. "But I wanted to be a pilot, slash drummer, slash professional athlete…"

Padme shook her head as a light giggle escaped her lips, "Jack of all trades," She muttered.

"Oh come on, every kid has those silly ambitions at one point or another. What's the craziest thing Luke ever said he wanted to be?"

"Indiana Jones," She said with a sigh. "But just the adventure part, not the archeology professor part. He wanted to go on adventures, fight bad guys and rescue damsels in distress." Padme shook her head as they both laughed. "He even went so far as to ask for a whip for his birthday once. He was so disappointed when he didn't get one."

"How old was he?"

Her eyes glanced up for a Monet as she counted back the years, "Six, I think… But when he didn't get the whip he started using his shoelaces as a whip to the point that I had to hide all shoes with laces until he grew out of it."

Anakin shook his head as his arm wrapped around her waist and they left the venue to continue on their walk. "And what about you?"

"Me?"

"Yeah. Before you wanted to be a lawyer there had to be some crazy dream that had you banging on pots and pans, or making cracking sounds with shoelaces."

A light blush dusted her cheeks as a vivid image from her childhood flashed briefly in her memory. She couldn't tell him. It was so silly and ridiculous, and something she'd already endured years of her sister's teasing over. "I've always wanted to be a lawyer," She resolved, squaring her shoulders with an air of assurance she hoped he would find believable.

He didn't. "So boring," He said, rolling his eyes. "Please tell me you at least wanted… I don't know, to do something fun! Like… professional unicyclist."

"Unicycle?" Padme laughed as she glanced questionably up at him, "Where did you get that idea from?"

His head bowed over as he laughed, pulling her back against him, "I don't know! It's at least more fun than just a plain old lawyer. Pouring over law books, and paperwork," He gave an exaggerated yawn and shook his head, "You _have_ to have had _some_ dream that was crazy and innocent, and just plain childish."

Padme bit her lip as she heaved a heavy sigh, "Queen," She said, her voice barely louder than a whisper but still loud enough for him to hear.

"Queen, eh?" His smile broadened as he gracefully stepped to the side and into an overly dramatic bow, "Your Majesty!"

"Don't start!" She laughed, giving his shoulder a firm shove, "I was five!" She argued, as he stood straight and wrapped his arm around her once again as they started walking again. Anakin pressed his lips to her temple and she felt herself lean into the affectionate gesture. "What I really wanted was to be the President, _but_ , I always thought the title of a Queen sounded better."

"So instead of a new President every four years, we'd get a Queen?" His eyes lifted as he tried to think about the logic of a silly five-year-old Padme's idea. And it really was a silly idea. The idea of a democratic royalty made no sense, and as expected, Anakin thought the same thing, his laughter was contagious as they burst into a fit of giggles.

"I haven't told anyone that in a long time," She mused, reaching up to the shoulder his arm was draped over. Her fingers found his and immediately he weaved their fingers together. The natural way everything he did just felt so perfect. The way she fit into his side, the way the rough callous of his thumb brushed against her knuckles… it amazed her how familiar everything was for them. They haven't even been on that many real dates, and yet it felt like she's been with him for years.

"I can tell why," He said, "It is absolutely ridiculous!"

"Oh, don't start!" She sighed, as she started to regret even telling him.

"Come on, don't you want to know the most ridiculous part of the whole thing?"

"Not really."

Anakin smiled as he suddenly jerked them to the side of the sidewalk, her back pressing against the stone wall of a storefront. He smiled down at her, as his fingers gently came to brush a lock of her hair away from her face. "The most ridiculous thing, is that a Queen is a rather large step down from the Angel you really are." The corner of Anakin's lips curled into that half smirk of his as he spoke. His voice was gentle and so brutally honest, and yet his words sounded so… corny that if she didn't know that Anakin always spoke like he jumped out of a romcom, she would think he was lying.

But she did know him. She knew that he never said anything he didn't mean. She knew that he was a romantic at heart. She knew that he wanted her. And knowing that it is hard enough finding a single guy who is okay with her having a kid, but also finding one who can say things like that, was near impossible, part of her was expecting to wake up at any moment alone in her bed to find that all of this — that Anakin was just a dream. Because how can someone so perfect exist in this world?

A light blush slowly colored his cheeks as he brought his hand to the nape of his neck and awkwardly chuckled. "Um, I think this is where you either tell me 'that's sweet' or if it's creepy."

"No!" Padme laughs, her hand coming up to his chest, "No, it's-it's anything _but_ creepy. It's _perfect_." She took a step closer to him and tilted her head up, Anakin following her lead and leaning down until their foreheads lightly touch. Her eyes fall shut as she fists his coat.

A light tremor radiates through her body, starting in her chest before flowing out. She tries to hide it by nuzzling into him, but it doesn't work. "Are you cold?" He asks, his hands rubbing smoothly up and down her arms. "You're trembling."

"I didn't know I could feel this way about someone," Her eyes opened slowly and they regarded one another silently. She loves they way he looks at her, like there is no one else in the world. It is easy to just drown in the depth of those blue eyes of his. She doesn't care that they're standing outside of a storefront just staring at one another, she doesn't care that people smile at them as they walk past the scene they're making. She just cares about him and hopes that he feels something close to what she is feeling.

Anakin carefully tucks a strand of loose hair behind her ear, and despite the coldness of his fingertips, she leans into his touch. His Adam's apple bobs as he swallows before he speaks again, "Do-do you want to go back to the hotel?" He asks, his tongue flicking out to wet his lips, "It's getting a bit cold out." It isn't even that cold out. She knows what he is really asking even if he hasn't said the exact words. It doesn't matter. Her answer remains the same. Padme gives a small scoff at him before giving a small nod and letting him whisk her away at a slightly faster pace to get back to the hotel.

* * *

His back collided roughly with her hotel room door as she stumbles into him, their lips clashing in a deep and desperate kiss, one they've been saving for the several blocks back to the hotel. Padme fists the front of his jacket as she feels his hands dance up and down her back, pulling her flush against him so she can feel the beginnings of his arousal as it starts to grow in his pants. She sighs as she fumbles with her purse, trying to find the silly keycard to open the door, all the while she is desperate to keep her lips and his sealed together. Anakin helps by cupping the back of her head as his tongue delved into her mouth, twining with hers with gentle caresses. Dear God, it takes everything just to remember what she's supposed to be doing! Inside her purse she rummages for her wallet but with no success. With a groan, she forces herself to pull away from the kiss. Anakin lets his hands slide down to her hips, drawing little circles as she opens her purse as wide as it can so she can physically look for the wallet. How hard is it to find a wallet in a little cross body purse? Harder than it should have been. How did her wallet end up lodged in the bottom behind all the little tiny things she carries? She has no idea.

With an exasperated sigh, she finally pulls out the key and opens the door and roughly shoves him inside, before following and letting the door slam behind them. She only barely heard his laugh at how eager she was before she pressed herself back into his arms. His hands left a burning trail down her spine as she carded her own through his hair. Their lips locked in a heated kiss, Padme let her hands wander from his hair to his shirt, carefully working the small buttons open as his grip around her body slackened enough for him to let his coat drop from his shoulders. His shirt quickly followed, and she pulled back only long enough to fully appraise him. She already knew he was well built, they'd cuddled together enough for her to already be somewhat familiar with the ridges of muscle that was hidden beneath his layers of clothes. But knowing was miles from actually seeing and she could feel her cheeks heat at the thought that this textbook example of male masculinity— this god actually wanted her. Padme bit her lip as unconsciously her eyes followed the light trail of blond hairs that led below his waistline. It'd been so long…

Anakin's laugh pulled her attention back to his face, her cheeks burning a little in embarrassment from how long she'd been staring, but he didn't seem to mind. instead, he cupped her cheek with his hand and kissed her again, slowly this time as he eased her embarrassment with his lips, reaffirming that this— what they had— was more than just a physical attraction and she easily relaxed under his attention as he slowly brought his hand to the back of her dress, undoing the button at the top and waiting a moment in case she wanted him to stop before easing the zipper down until it stopped just above the swell of her backside. The dress easily slipped forward from her shoulders before falling in a pool of fabric at her feet, leaving her standing before him in just her underwear. Anakin's lips twitched at the corners as he looked at her with such… adoration. He always looked at her like she was the most amazing person in the world, but it felt so much heavier now. Taking a deep breath, Padme reached behind her and unclasped her bra, letting it too, slip from her shoulders and land on the floor, watching in amazement as his eyes grew wide and his jaw slackened.

"You're so beautiful," He said, his voice barely above a whisper as he reached his hand to her breast and cupped it, feeling the weight of the mound as his thumb traced little invisible patterns just below the nipple, before he stepped closer to her and wrapped his arm tightly around her waist, pulling her in for another breathtaking kiss. Her eyes closed as they blindly side-stepped to where the bed was located in the middle of the room. She felt his lips smile against hers as he flicked at her nipple with his thumb and she jolted at the tingling sensation the action sent through her system. Padme pulled back from the kiss, just barely escaping his lips as he leaned forward to chase her. With their eyes open, and locked in an intense gaze, she felt an unfamiliar thrill, one she surprisingly wanted to encourage. With a sly smile, she pulled out of his embrace and roughly shoved him backwards onto the bed. His eyes went wide as he lost his balance and bounced from the force of his landing on the matress, but he didn't seem to mind, in fact, he seemed to feel a similar thrill as he lifted himself onto his elbows and simply looked up at her in awe.

The way he was laying on the bed made the bulge in his pants more visible as it clearly tented and strained behind the zipper. Padme bit her lip as she carefully crawled on top of him, his hands coming to rest easily on her hips to steady her as she leaned over him to kiss him once more. His grip on her hips tightened as he shifted under her, pressing himself firmly against her and dragging a slow moan from her as he moved them further onto the bed before he relaxed back against the mattress. Leaning over him, her hair cascaded over her shoulders, enveloping both of them behind the brown curls. He smiled up at her before quickly latching his mouth to her neck, suckling wetly as she craned her head to the side to give him more access. Beneath her she felt the light twitch of his cock, still very much restrained, and she couldn't help but feel bad for the poor thing. Shifting her hips over him, she grinned lightly against him, loving the surprised grunt that escaped his lips as he eagerly thrust his hips to meet hers. She sighed into his mouth as she tried to continue grinding, all the while letting her hands slide lower until they reached his belt. It took some fumbling for her to undo the buckle, but once it was done, it was easy enough to get the button and zipper before he hastily began to kick his pants and boxers off.

Padme shifted further down his thighs as she sat up. Between them, his erect cock bobbed eagerly between them, the head shimmering with wetness. His eyes locked intently and almost shyly on her, as if waiting for her approval. Tugging her lip between her teeth, she slowly reached out and touched the skin of his member. It was warm, as she felt a firm throb against her palm as she slowly dragged her hand from base to tip. Anakin breathed in sharply as his eyes rolled back and taking that as encouragement, she repeated the action, again and again. "Harder," He hissed, his hips jerking up into her hand, and she obeyed easily, increasing her speed and adding a slow twisting motion. His fists bunched in the sheets as she just barely heard her name pass his lips as his hips began to rock into each downward motion she made with her hand. The rhythm felt so natural, and so in sync that despite this being the first time in a long time that she held a man's cock in her hand, she didn't feel shy or embarrassed and all she was truly aware of was the guttural sounds he made, and the wetness that was slowly forming between her legs.

She watched as his eyes rolled back as a strangled moan slipped past his lips before he suddenly lurched forward. His hands cupped the back of her neck, drawing her lips towards his. The action caught her off guard and what control she had, slipped as he flopped back down onto the bed, bringing her with him until she was sprawled on top of him; their lips met in a heated and sloppy kiss that warmed her to her very core. She felt his hands slide from her neck to her chest, her hair, her hip… his hands were everywhere, wanting to touch every last inch of her he could reach. It was endearing, and she loved it especially when she heard a loud tear as he roughly ripped the waistband of her panties, slipping the tattered garment out of the way of his enticing fingers.

"Anakin…" She jolted as the tip of his index finger made contact with the tight bundle of nerves, and felt his lips latch onto her neck. Padme sighed as she gripped his shoulders, her hips lifting slightly to allow him more access, but it was hard, so hard to do that when his fingers worked to make her weak.

"So wet…" He mumbled against her throat, "You're so wet… you want this- Want me?"

"Yes… yes, yes!" Padme let out a yelp as she felt him shift her off of him a little more rough than she expected, but she didn't care. She watched as he stumbled off the bed and rummaged through his pants on the floor. Light reflected briefly off the blue foiled square he pulled from his pocket. Padme bit her bottom lip as she watched Anakin tear the packet open with his teeth and pull out the condom. His eyes never left hers as he rolled it over his hard throbbing cock and she couldn't help but to reach out towards it. Gripping the base, she gave him a small squeeze and relished in the groan that rumbled from his chest before carefully leading him back towards her. Anakin's lips curled into an amused smirk as she led him by his cock until he was hovering over her. Immediately, his hand found a perch on her thigh while he leaned most of his weight on his forearm by her head.

Anakin smiled at her, a genuine smile as he twisted a lock of her hair around his index finger. His eyes locked intently on hers as he pressed a chaste kiss to her lips, pulling back only long enough to show her that beautiful smile again before kissing her once more, deeply, passionately. His cock nudged at her entrance and her hips shifted under him, widening, helping him to ease inside her. Padme sighed into the kiss as her hand found its way into his hair, holding his face to hers, as he slowly started to rock. "Oh God… uh, Ani," She couldn't believe how wonderful it felt— how wonderful he felt. His cock reached so deep inside her, nudging the most sensitive parts within her that had her gasping in pleasure as he worked to almost consistently hit that same spot over and over again. The way his eyes were trained on her, and the way he responded to the sounds and minute movements she made, had her heart swell with affection for this man. So attentive even in the throes of passion, he cared more about her enjoyment than his and she couldn't help but love him for it.

Roughly, his hands yanked hers from around him, with one hand, he held her arms in place above her head while his other hand readjusted his grip on her thigh, hoisting it over his shoulder as he leaned up. His hips thundered into her, the sound of their skin clapping and the creaking of the bed, accompanied by the guttural sounds they made, filled the room as she felt her end approaching like a freight train. "Anakin! Oh, Anakin! Yes! Right… right there!" Her eyes rolled back as her hips shook violently against his as a toe-curling orgasm ripped through her, sending an electric flow of pure physical pleasure down her spine.

Anakin never let up, his own hips continuing to thrust hard and frenzied into her as he chased his own release. "You feel so good," He groaned, "…S-so tight… warm… Fuck!" And just like her moments before, she felt him come undone inside her—for her. Padme watched with rapture as the veins in his neck constricted and how his muscles twitched spastically with every shallow thrust as he emptied himself. She didn't think she could be so aroused watching a man climax. But she was, and instinctively, the muscles in her center tightened as she milked every drip from him. He let out a strained groan as he collapsed on top of her, panting heavily as his grip on her wrists and thigh relaxed. She was sore. And he was heavy. But she had never felt so complete with every inch of her body touching his.

Eventually he became a little too heavy, and her small groan had him hastily rolling off of her with muttered apology as he settled beside her, his arm slinging over her hip as she turned to face him. His skin was still flushed and his hair darkened by perspiration, but she swears he's never looked more perfect. Anakin smiled at her as he ran his fingers along her side, as if testing to see if she were real or a dream. And if he was doubting it was real, so was she. Reaching out, she placed her hand on his chest, feeling the slightly erratic beat of his heart, and trailing up to his jaw. His head turned into her palm, pressing a soft kiss to her soft flesh before turning his head to look back at her.

Her brow furrowed as he bit his lip and despite what had just happened, he seemed almost tense, as if he might regret what had just happened. Padme felt a sinking feeling in her gut at the thought that it might not have been good for him, or maybe— no, that was impossible, right? "What is it?" She asked, almost dreading his answer.

Anakin tugged his lip between his teeth, "I-I don't know if I should say this after sex," He started, already starting to confirm the dread in her stomach. "I mean, I've never— But…I-I just have to say it…" He cleared his throat as he met her eyes with an intense gaze, "I-I love you."

Her breath hitched, caught off guard, and yet so, so happy. A giggle slipped past her lips that might have sounded on the verge of hysterics but she didn't care, leaning close and taking his face in her hands to kiss him senseless. Anakin Skywalker nearly scared her half to death, but, she was sure, so sure she was in love with him that it didn't even matter. And hearing him say those words, made her heart soar. "Oh, Ani… I love you too," She said.


End file.
